I Will Not Bow
by TheSib
Summary: Ren was a normal teen. However, all that changed on the day he logged into SAO. The secret is revealed that there is no way to log out until the game is beaten, and death in the game will lead to death in real life. Ren must now fight for his life in order to free both himself and his friends. I do not own Sword Art Online. All rights go to their respectful owners.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello SAO fans. This is my first fanfic. I hope you all like it. Reviews and comments are fully welcome.**

"Link start!"

I said those words and my entire world was changed forever. I dived into the virtual world for the first time. I typed in my username and password and was teleported to a world that words could never describe.

Sword Art Online was released today. I had gotten one of the last of the 10,000 copies sold. It was a revolution in gaming: the first of the VRMMO saga.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a large town. According to the game site, it was the first town. It's name was the Town of Beginnings. I was dressed in a red shirt with some light armor on. My avatar's name was Ren.

It took about an hour to do a quick exploration of the town. Being the first town, there wasn't any gear worth buying. Suddenly, I saw a black haired player running around, as if he knew the layout. He must have been one of the 1,000 beta testers. Since I had finished exploring the town, I decided to follow him. He might show me some cool stuff about the game.

I followed him outside of the town. He had a red haired guy wearing a bandana with him. The black haired player seemed to be showing him the basics of the game by fighting a boar. I hid in a bush nearby. It seemed to be a dead even match between the boar and the bandana guy, until his sword suddenly lit up and slashed the boar, taking out the rest of its hp.

"Wow" I gasped in amazement. Suddenly, I lost my balance and fell out in front of the bush. The two players looked my way.

"Hey, who are you?" the bandana guy said, shocked. "Have you been spying on us?!"

"Well... sort of." I replied shyly. "I wanted to see some tricks to fighting in the game, so I followed you two out here."

I was worried they might get pissed and kill me, but the black haired player reached out his hand.

"You know, you could have just asked for some tips." he said smiling.

I took his hand and he helped me up. "Thanks" I replied. "So anyway, what was that move just now?"

"It was a sword skill." replied the black haired player.

"Sword skill. Even the name sounds cool."

"I know! Wasn't it so awesome?!" the bandana guy added.

"Mind showing me how to do it?" I asked.

We spent the next few hours learning to do sword skills and battling boars. We also registered each other as friends. The bandana guy was named Klein. The black haired player was called Kirito.

It was about 5:15 when we took a rest. The sunset sky could already be seen.

"Man this is so cool." I said.

"I know right. Whoever designed this game is a genius." Klein agreed.

"You don't need to be so over dramatic." Kirito laughed.

"Hey cut us some slack. It's our first dive." Klein argued.

"Yeah, Kirito. You're not as impressed because you're a beta tester. You've dived plenty of times." I agreed.

"I guess you're right." Kirito admitted. "So, you wanna move on?"

"Well I would, but I'm starving" Klein sighed. "I gotta log out and get some food."

"Ok. Well I guess we'll see you later." I said, waving goodbye. Kirito and I were about to head out when something Klein said caught our attention.

"Huh? Where's the log out button?" Klein asked.

"Are you serious man?" I laughed.

"Seriously! The button's not there!"

I took a look at my menu to confirm what he said. Klein was right. The log out button was missing.

"What the hell is going on?" I wondered.

The sound of a bell rang throughout the plain suddenly. As we looked at each other, wondering what was happening, we became veiled in a bright light.

When the light disappeared, I found myself in the center of the Town of Beginnings, along with Kirito and Klein. Hundreds of other players were appearing here as well. It seemed that every player went through a forced teleportation. The sky was coated with the color of blood with a sign saying 'System Announcement'.

"What's going on?" I wondered.

Part of the sky seemed to melt into red goo. It formed into one figure. The goo turned into a large cloaked ghost-like figure.

"Players, let me welcome you to my world. My name is Akihiko Kayaba, the head programmer of Sword Art Online."

"What?!" several players gasped. Little did we know, the next piece of news coming would shock us a thousand times more than the last part.

"I'm sure you've all realized something missing from the menu. The log out button. You should all know that this is not a defect. This is how SAO was originally designed. There is only one way to escape. You must beat the game. Right now, you are all on Floor 1. Climb all the way up to Floor 100 and defeat the last boss. Only then, will you be able to escape. There is also one more rule I would like to explain. If anyone on the outside world tries to remove the Nerve Gear attached to your head, the internal battery will fry your brain, and end your life. In addition, if your hp falls to zero, the Nerve Gear will also fry your brain."

After those words were uttered, the entire square became dead silent.

"He can't be serious right? You can't die in a video game. Can you?" Klein asked. We both turned to Kirito.

"It's true. The Nerve Gear has a powerful internal battery. It's built just like a microwave." Kirito explained.

"But why? Why would anyone do this?" Klein asked.

"I think he's about to explain that." Kirito said.

"Right now, you're probably wondering why I, Akihiko Kayaba, would do this. The reason is quite simple. All I want is to be in control of my own world. That goal is now complete. Also, I have a little gift for all of you. Please look in your storage."

I opened my inventory and found an item waiting in there. A mirror. I tapped it and the object materialized. Suddenly my body became enveloped in light again. I thought it was another teleportation, but I was proven wrong. When the glow ended, I was still in the town. When I looked at my avatar, I became speechless. My avatar was gone and replaced by me. My avatar's red hair was replaced by my natural brown hair. The face I worked hard on creating was replaced by my own.

"What is going on?" I wondered. I looked towards Kirito and Klein to see that their looks had changed too. It seemed that everyone's looks had changed to that of their real ones.

"Players, I wish you the best of luck." And with that, Kayaba disappeared."

Everyone was dead silent. We all couldn't believe what we had just heard. Kirito tapped my shoulder and motioned for Klein and me to follow him. We ran to the alleyways of the town.

"Listen. I'm heading to the next town. I want you guys to come with me. I know the safest paths to take. You guys coming?"

Klein and I paused for a moment. It was a good idea. We would be far safer as a group. There was just one problem.

"Sorry." I said. "But I can't do that. I've got a couple of friends that are trapped in this game too. I just can't leave them."

"Yeah. I'm in the same boat." Klein added.

I waited to see if Kirito would offer to take both us and our friends, but he stayed silent. I understood how he felt. He couldn't take the responsibility of that many lives. I removed the burden of saying it to our faces.

"Hurry up and get going Kirito." I said in a reassuring tone. "We'll go along the route you showed us. Don't worry."

Kirito stood there with a feeling of guilt on his face. He eventually nodded and ran off.

"Well I'll be seeing you Klein." I said.

"Yeah. Just be careful." Klein responded.

I messaged the friends I knew entered SAO, and told them to meet me at the main gate. There were two friends I knew that logged into SAO. The first was my cousin. He was a blonde teen who was a year older than me. In the game, he named himself Riku. The second was a friend of mine from school. He was the same age as me and had black hair. His in-game name was Helios.

"Alright, let's get going." I told them.

"You sure?" Riku asked. "It's pretty risky going out when death in the game leads to death in real life."

"We don't have much choice." I said. "If we're going to survive, we need to get stronger. Getting to the next town before the main crowd will help us do that."

"He's right" Helios nodded. "We need to get stronger to beat this game."

We all prepared ourselves, and we ran towards the next town, and into an adventure that would change not only our lives, but the lives of 10,000 people.

**Well that's Chapter 1 folks. I know most of it was from episode 1. Next chapter will be all original stuff. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and what's to come. Once again, reviews and comments are welcome.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Alright everybody time for chapter 2. I hope you like it.**

It had been 2 weeks since the death game started. In that time, Helios, Riku, and I had gotten our levels to around 15. I had taught them how to use sword skills and fight enemy mobs efficiently without taking any large risk to our hp.

I was now wearing a brown light coat that raised my dexterity by a fair amount. I was equipped with a one-handed long sword. Since I knew a lot about the game due to the knowledge Kirito shared with me, I was appointed as leader of the group. I built myself as a speed/strength build, focussing slightly more on speed.

Riku wore a hooded coat with a dark green color. His main weapon was a dagger, but he also had some throwing knives on his belt. He focused on a speed build. He also increased his vision skill by a bit, allowing him to get critical hits more often and spot the weak spots on enemies. His avatar almost seemed like a thief or assassin type.

Helios was the most heavily armored among the three of us. He wore metal shoulder pads and a coat of armor covering his chest. His main weapon was a two-handed axe. His build was almost entirely on strength.

After the 'death game' feature of SAO was revealed to everyone, panic and fear overtook a majority of players. Most of the players that had the courage to try beating the game were beta testers; most of who were playing solo. There were others that formed large parties and leveled up slowly. It took about a week before others stopped sulking in the Town of Beginnings and started trying to level up. There were still many players that were too afraid to leave the safety of the town though.

Even after these two weeks, no one had found the first floor boss. Morality was getting low, and it would just continue if it wasn't discovered soon. Riku, Helios and I didn't bother looking for it. We figured someone else would find it and tell everyone, in order to form a large raid party. We focused on trying to train and raise our levels.

The three of us had stayed in a town near a field that had good hunting spots for a few days now. We headed out into the fields, just as we had done for the past week. After a few hours of hunting, we took a break in a safe zone to eat lunch.

"Things are going pretty well." Riku said. "If we can keep this pace up, we should be able to clear the floor boss no problem."

"We need to find the floor boss first." Helios pointed out.

"Good thing you're always around to point out the obvious" Riku responded.

"Good thing you're always around to never notice the obvious" Helios countered.

As the two of them kept joking around, we suddenly heard a loud scream.

"What was that?!" I gasped. We ran towards a cliff and found the origin. A party of players was engaging an extremely large mob of goblins. The total number of monsters reached about 30. Usually when encountering a mob that large, the best option is to retreat. However, they couldn't do so because they were completely surrounded. There were 3 people in the center of a circle, fending off the horde of monsters just barely. They wouldn't last another 5 minutes at this rate.

"This is bad! We gotta help them." Helios exclaimed.

"No shit Sherlock!" Riku shouted.

"Keep digging Watson." Helios smirked.

"This is pointless. Right now, we need to help them. Right Ren?" Riku asked looking towards me. But I was already gone. While the two of them were having their love/hate relationship, I was jumping down the cliff, ledge by ledge. By the time they noticed I was gone, I was running across the plain towards the mob.

"Ren?! Geez, Wait up!" Helios yelled as he and Riku followed my lead down the cliff. I slowed down my running a bit to let them catch up. While they were getting closer, I saw a burst of several polygons, signaling that one of the 3 players had died. I cursed under my breath. When Riku and Helios caught up to me, we were about 50 meters from the mob.

"Listen. I'll cut a path through the mob and help the ones in the center. You two take out the outer wall of their formation. Helios, use sword skills with wide range attacks. Riku, cover him during the delay after the skill with skills that have short delay time." I told them. In response, they both nodded.

Since everyone was in agreement, I used my superior dexterity to charge ahead. I activated a sword skill and my blade glowed with a light blue aura. My sword acted like a lance, smashing right through the wall of monsters. I stopped once I reached the center area. The monsters had a stun reaction to a sudden new arrival in the fight. I turned to the 2 players still alive from the party, who seemed as surprised as the monsters.

The first one of the two was a girl who looked about 15. She was wore a red shirt that had light shoulder pads and a breastplate attached. Her weapon was a katana type sword. She had long jet black hair that flowed through the wind. The second was another girl who seemed a few years younger than the other one. She had dark brown hair that fell to her shoulders. She was dressed in a light blue dress. In her hand was a rapier type sword.

"You guys okay?" I yelled. It took a few seconds for them to regain their senses and respond.

"Yeah, our hp isn't in the red yet. But we won't hold out much longer." said the girl with the katana. The younger girl seemed speechless with fear. This wasn't going to be easy.

Looking towards the sides, I saw flashes of red and yellow from the attacks of Helios and Riku. That would be our best target.

"Follow my lead if you want to make it out of this alive!" I yelled at the two girls. I pointed my sword towards the wall of monsters near Helios and Riku. "We need to aim at that point and break through. Once we do that, run with everything you've got." The two girls nodded and got their blades ready.

"Ready? GO!" I yelled. All three of our swords lit up and we charged into the horde of monsters.

"Helios, Riku, move!" I ordered as we approached the end of the mob. The two of them jumped back as we seemed to explode through the end of the mob.

"Alright, let's get out of here!" I ordered. The five of us kicked the ground and sprinted away at full speed. We got to a safe area in about 10 minutes.

"Is... Everyone... ok?" I asked, catching my breath. I felt like I had run a marathon.

"Yeah... we're good." replied the girl with the katana.

"Same... here." Helios added.

Once we knew we were safe, we collapsed onto the ground.

"Here, take this." I said to the two girls, passing a couple of health potions to them.

"Thanks." the katana girl replied. She and her friend gulped down the health potions.

"What the hell happened back there?" Helios asked.

The two girls looked down with depressed looks on their faces.

"We had formed a party with some friends of ours from real life." the rapier user said. "There were 5 of us. We were out training in the field. Suddenly we found a rare monster none of us had seen before. I remembered reading in the guidebook that it was a monster that attracted a lot of other monsters when it was attacked. I warned everyone, but one of the party members... he... he..." She tried making out the words, but burst into tears. The katana user went over and comforted her. She continued the story in her place.

"One of the party members, a guy named Noburu attacked even though the rest of us felt it was too risky. Once he made contact, a swarm of monsters came from all directions and surrounded us immediately. Noburu had our teleport crystals, but he used one to save himself before giving the rest out to us. We tried to fight them off, but we were too outnumbered. Two of our friends died in the fight."

To hear the two of them having to go through all that; it was heartbreaking. I couldn't just leave them like this.

"It's too dangerous to go around alone right now." I started. "We only have three crystals, so we'll help you two back on foot."

"Really?! Thank you so much!" the katana girl said. Both of their faces lit up with joy. We sent them a party invitation request and they accepted immediately. We all introduced ourselves. The red dressed katana girl was called Alice. The rapier user was Mai, her younger sister.

We ran into a few small mobs on the way back to town, but we dealt with them easily. Alice and Mai were pretty decent in battle and could hold their own against most monsters one on one. We got back to town in a couple of hours. As we were walking towards the square, a player came running towards us.

"Alice! Mai! Thank god you're okay." he yelled waving at them. He had short blonde hair.

"Who's that?" Helios asked Alice. She had a face that seemed filled with rage for a second, but it was immediately replaced with a smile.

"Oh nobody important. Just gimme a second to catch up with him." she smiled at us. Alice walked over towards the player running up to her. He called out again.

"Alice! I'm so glad you're safe. I thought you..."

Bam!

As the blonde was in the middle of talking, Alice swung her fist at him full force in the face. He was sent flying back about 10 meters. The rage on her face returned.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Alice screamed out. "NOBORU YOU BASTARD! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOUR COWARDLY STUPIDITY DID?! JEAN AND OLIVIA DIED BECAUSE OF YOU! MAI AND I ALMOST JOINED THEM!"

So this was the guy that abandoned them to die. He's lucky he's in the town. Otherwise, Alice probably would have killed him on the spot, although what she'll do to him now might make him wish he was dead.

"Alice I'm sorry! I just... I just..." Noburu was now begging for his life as he tried to get up and run. However, he tripped and Alice had him by the collar. She took another swing at him, and this time he was sent flying right into the side of a building.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you right now." Alice growled at him.

"Please! I'm begging you! I'll do anything!" Noboru begged. Alice took him by the collar again, and glared him right in the face.

"Never talk to me or my sister again. Got it?" Alice threw him to the side and Noboru got to his feet and ran.

Alice walked back over to us, finally calmed down.

"Remind me never to piss her off." Riku whispered to Helios.

"I would, but seeing her do that to you would be hilarious." Helios chuckled.

Alice finally reached us. "Sorry you had to see that." she sighed. "I just couldn't stop myself."

"Don't be sorry" I replied. "You had every right to be mad at him."

"Thanks for helping us back to town." Alice said. "I guess we'll be going now." She and Mai began to walk off.

"Wait!" I called out. The two girls turned their heads back towards us.

"What's wrong?" Alice asked.

"Well, you don't have any other people you know in SAO right?"

"Yeah."

"So why don't you join up with us?" I offered. Alice was shocked by my proposal. Mai's face lit up with joy.

"Really? Are you sure?" Alice asked.

"Of course. The two of you are obviously able to hold your own in a fight, and we'll all be safer in a larger group." I assured her.

Alice's face turned into a wholehearted smile. "Ok then." she nodded. "I guess we're all a team now."

"Thanks for having us." Mai smiled.

And with that, the five of us became a team, ready to take on whatever SAO had to offer.

**I hope everyone enjoyed the new characters added. Please feel free to comment on the story. Suggestions are always welcome.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey guys. Time for another chapter. I hope you guys like it. Once again, comments and reviews are welcome.**

"Alright, I'd like to thank you all for coming today." a blue haired player called out to the group.

A month had now passed since SAO began. In that time, 2000 players had died. To make matters even worse, the first floor boss still hadn't been discovered. People were starting to wonder if the game could actually be beaten. But finally, we had gathered players for a meeting to try and make a plan. Altogether, we had gathered about 30 players.

"My name is Diavel." the blue haired player said. "And in this game, I'm rolling with the job of knight!"

In response, the crowd burst into laughter. "There's no job system in this game idiot!" a few players called out.

"Man this guy's an even bigger fool than you, Riku." laughed Helios.

"I've called you all here today to share some important info with you all." Diavel continued. "We found the boss room yesterday."

No one was laughing now. He had everyone's attention. Even Helios had fell silent.

"First, as I'm sure you all know, we need to beat the boss and get to floor 2. Once we do that, we can show everyone that this game can be beaten. Does everyone agree?"

Everyone was in full agreement. We had been training for this for a full month.

"Good. Glad to see everyone is in agreement. First, let's make a plan. We'll start by making parties of 5-7 people."

My group altogether made up 5 people, so we were good. Most players here seemed like they were already in a group before they came here.

"Alright it seems everyone's teamed up. Now let's..."

"Hold it!" a voice called out. We looked behind us to see a spiky haired player making his way down to the stage.

"My name's Kibao. Remember that. Before we continue, I wanna point something out. We all know the 2000 players that died so far. Well some of you owe them an apology!"

"Oh great. Another weirdo. And this one loves to rant about his political views." Helios sighed.

"All of you beta tester assholes should be ashamed! The day this game started, all the beta testers just ditched us. This entire time, they've ignored us like we're trash. I bet there's some here too. We should make them apologize and give up their items! They can't expect us to trust them if they don't trust us."

Alice was about to get up and show Kibao her opinion (and how fast she could drop his hp) until I grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"What are you doing? Are you really gonna let him get away with saying that?" Alice asked me in a whisper.

"This isn't a good time to start a fight." I responded. "We need to keep tensions from getting any higher if we're gonna pull this boss raid off."

Alice thought about it for a moment, then sat back down. However, someone else spoke up.

"Can I say something?" a player called out and walked towards Kibao. He was a tall dark skinned man with a powerful body. He looked like he could squash Kibao like a bug.

"What do you want?" Kibao growled.

"My name's Agil. Let me get this straight. You believe the beta testers should be blamed for the rookies' deaths, and you want them to give up all their items and money. I leave anything out?"

"No." Kibao replied.

Agil took out a small book. "This is a guidebook. You got one right?"

"Course I do."

"You know who handed these out? The beta testers."

Everyone seemed shocked at this info. It didn't really phase me though. There were a lot of people that discriminated against beta testers, but a certain black haired swordsman showed me those rumors weren't true.

"We didn't come here to point fingers at people. We came here to find out how to beat the boss." Agil finished.

Kibao had obviously lost this argument and sat back down with his face filled with anger.

"Serves him right." Alice smirked.

Diavel took control of the conversation again. "Can we get back to the meeting now? Ok then. For info on the boss, it's all here in the guidebook Agil mentioned. The book says the boss's name is Illfang the Kobalt Lord. Apparently he carries an axe and a buckler. When his hp drops in the red he switches to a curved katana called a tolwar. In addition, he is surrounded by his minions, the Ruin Kobalt Sentinels." Diavel closed the book and called an end to the meeting. We were scheduled to leave at 10:00 am tomorrow morning.

As people were leaving, I saw a familiar face in the crowd. I called out to him.

"Hey Kirito!" I ran over to him and he turned his face towards me.

"Oh, hey Ren." Kirito replied.

"So you're in the boss raid too? Thought you were going solo." I grinned.

"I am. Just cause I'm solo doesn't mean I'm gonna do something stupid and take Illfang on solo." Kirito replied with a grin.

"Well good luck tomorrow." I said.

"You too, Ren."

Tomorrow came pretty quickly. The talk of the town was about how we were gonna beat the boss. Word of the raid had probably reached most of the first floor by now. We walked along a forest path to the dungeon. My team was assigned to taking down sentinels. Kirito and his party member, a girl named Asuna, were also put on minion duty. We reached the boss room in about 3 hours. A large door was all that separated us and the boss. Diavel gave some words of encouragement and we entered.

The room seemed pretty dark at first, but it suddenly became filled with a rainbow of colors. Illfang jumped across the room and roared at us. Sentinels also appeared. Diavel called out to start the attack. We charged in altogether at them.

The battle had been going on for about half an hour. A few players had been killed already in the battle. Luckily, my team hadn't come close to death yet. Alice and Mai were taking on sentinels together. Helios and Riku were also teamed up. Helios used his powerful axe to knock the sentinels up in the air, and Riku finished them with his throwing knives. I went solo against sentinels. My speed and power allowed me to one hit most of them once an opening was exposed. Kirito and Asuna were the most amazing though. The two of them acted perfectly in sync. The main attack group had finally gotten Illfang's hp into the red. Illfang showed its fangs and threw its equipment back. It then pulled out a curved sword. Diavel charged in to finish the boss himself. However, Kirito yelled out suddenly.

"Wait stop! It's no good! Run!"

What was wrong. It was a katana like the book said. Suddenly it hit me. That wasn't a tolwar. It was something far worse. The weapon Illfang had was a nodachi, which had more reach and power. Diavel couldn't take that on solo. But it was too late. Illfang jumped in the air, from pillar to pillar and swung down at Diavel with a powerful combo attack.

"Diavel!" I called out. Kirito ran over to him at the same time as me. Kirito gave him a health potion, but Diavel pushed it back.

"You were a beta tester too, weren't you Kirito?" Diavel said weakly. I was shocked. I knew Kirito was a beta tester, but not Diavel.

"You have to... beat the boss... for everyone here..." Diavel said and he shattered into fragments.

"No... Diavel... DIAVEL!" I cried out. Why did this have to happen? Diavel was one of the best players here. He didn't care about himself. He wanted to show everyone that there was hope. He didn't deserve to die like this. But there was no time to mourn his death. We needed to complete his last wish and kill Illfang. Asuna slid over to Kirito's side. "I'll go too." she told Kirito. The two of them ran off towards the boss.

"I won't let your death be in vain Diavel." I told myself. I charged in after Kirito and Asuna. Asuna's hood had just been cut off, revealing her long chestnut hair. The two of them were handling Illfang so well that I stopped for a moment in awe of their skill. However, I came back to my senses when I saw Kirito get hit with a diagonal slash, sending him flying back into Asuna.

"Guys, let's go!" I yelled to my team. The five of us ran over to intercept the boss's next attack, but it was already right next to Kirito and Asuna.

"We're not gonna make it in time!" Alice yelled out. Suddenly, her expectations were betrayed as a shining green light flew over us and hit back Illfang's attack. It was Agil!

"Damn." Riku gasped in amazement. "Helios, you got nothing on Agil."

"Want me to show you my skill with an axe up close?" Helios countered. That shut Riku up.

The five of us zoomed past Kirito, Asuna, and Agil. "We can hold this guy off. Get your health back up." I called out to Kirito. We got closer and closer to Illfang. All 5 of us activated sword skills.

"This is for Diavel you bastard!" I yelled out. The five of us hit the boss with a barrage of slashes and surrounded it. Agil came over as well. Just as we moved in for another attacked, Illfang pushed us all back with a powerful slash. It then jumped into the air, ready to finish us with the same move it used on Diavel. Suddenly a blue stream soared across the sky and hit Illfang before it could get close to us. It was Kirito! Kirito rolled on the ground as he landed, with Asuna following him. The two of them delivered a flurry of attacks and finished Illfang. The sign 'Congratulations' appeared and we all started cheering.

I fell down from both exhaustion and having my life flash before my eyes. But at the same time, I was truly happy. We had beaten the first boss finally. For the first time, we had hope. I looked over to Kirito. There was one thing I was sure of: Kirito was going to be the one that would beat this game. His determination and skill was far superior than the rest of us. He was going to do great things. I wasn't going to just be left behind. I will not give up. I will not let this game beat me. I will not bow to this system called SAO.

**A/N: Well that's Chapter 3 people. I hope you enjoyed it. Please comment on the story, and feel free to post suggestions. They are all greatly appreciated.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Alright, I know how much everyone has longed for some more original stuff. Well these next few chapters will not be from the anime. Please enjoy. Feel free to comment.**

Once floor 1 was cleared, we created a large scale raid group. We cleared floors in far less time than floor 1. The normal amount of time it took to clear a floor became about 10 days. The front lines was currently on floor 25. The whole place was one big death trap. Every dungeon had hidden traps that would poison, paralyze, and even kill players instantly. The raid group had found the boss room after about two weeks, and were planning to challenge it tomorrow. I was resting in town at a bench.

"Man, this floor was way too dangerous." Alice sighed sitting down next to me. She looked a lot different from when we had first met. All of us did. I was now wearing a long red coat and a black shirt under it. My weapon was a one handed sword that I got from a floor boss drop. Alice wore a long dress. Her main weapon was now a big black scythe she got from a quest boss drop on floor 19 that had two blades instead of one. It was called Twin Ripper. Mai wore a dress similar to Alice and had a rapier that she got from a blacksmith called Lizbeth, who was recommended to her by Asuna once. Riku still wore a hooded jacket, but his vision and detection skills had leveled up by an incredible amount. It was thanks to this that we were able to avoid most of the traps on floor 25. Helios wore semi-heavy armor and carried a large battle axe with him. The five of us had formed a guild. The name of it was Wyvern Inferno. All our uniforms had a red and black for their colors.

I responded back to Alice. "Yeah, it was. Considering how tough the dungeons were, I'm a bit worried about the boss fight."

"Well it's gonna help having you around, Ren." Alice smiled. "Your leadership has been what's kept us alive. You have a talent for analyzing a situation and knowing what to do."

"Thanks Alice." I smiled back. "But I really think all of our teamwork has been what's saved us."

"Don't sell yourself short Ren. Its because of you that I'm not so afraid of this death game anymore." Alice told me. "In the beginning before I met you, I was terrified every day. I didn't know if I would survive. I had nightmares. But now with you around, I feel like I'll always be safe. I feel like I can do anything."

I chuckled a bit. "You know, before SAO, no one would have thought that way about me. I was actually a shy non-social person. Nobody really relied on me."

"So what changed you?" Alice asked.

"Once this death game began, I had a responsibility. I had friends I had to protect. I guess I changed because I was forced to." I admitted.

Suddenly we began to hear a commotion in the square. We walked over to a crowd of players with worried looks on their faces.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"It's the Liberation force! They went ahead towards the boss room on their own!" a player explained.

"What!" Alice gasped.

"Apparently Kibao ordered his group to attack the boss room now, before the scheduled raid tomorrow. He got no orders from his guild leader to do so though." another player continued.

"That idiot!" I yelled out. "He'll get his entire team killed!"

"We need to do something." Alice nodded.

I looked towards the players in the crowd from a guild called the Holy Dragon Alliance. "Gather as many skilled players as you can." I ordered them. "Tell everyone to meet up at the gate in 10 minutes."

"Right." the HDA members nodded.

I contacted Helios, Riku, Mai, and some friends I had that were on the front lines, including Kirito, Asuna, and Klein. They met up with me, along with the HDA members within 10 minutes. There were about 20 of us in total.

"I was hoping for more players, but we don't have any time to waste. Let's move!" I told everyone. We rushed out and ran towards the dungeon where the boss was.

"What the hell was Kibao thinking?" Klein wondered as we ran.

"The greedy fool wants the glory of saying he defeated the floor boss without help from other guilds. He'll also get a lot of exp and rare items." I guessed.

"If this boss doesn't kill him, I will." Helios complained.

We reached the dungeon in about 30 minutes. Making our way to the boss room took another 2 hours. The door was already open and we could hear screams inside.

"Damn idiots!" Alice cursed.

The inside of the room was like a swamp. The floor layout was marshy and pools of what I guessed to be poison were scattered across it. A group of players that was almost definitely Kibao and his gang of morons were struggling against a large monsterous creature. It was a series of dragon heads, eight in total, each with a separate hp bar. They were all black and had poisonous ooze dripping from their mouths. Its name read 'Hydra Orochi'.

"What is that thing?!" Alice gasped.

"Nothing good." Kirito said with a look of fear on his face. None of us had any clue how we were going to beat that thing.

"First thing's first." I said. "We need to get those idiots out of there. Once we do that, we can figure out how to beat that thing. Kirito, Klein, Asuna, and my team will get its attention. When we do, the rest of you will get Kibao's group out of there."

Once everyone was in agreement, we put our plan into action. My group ran in a V formation towards the boss. Each of us prepared a sword skill and prepared to hit each of the boss's heads, but the heads inhaled a lot of air. It was about to use a long range, breath attack.

"Crap! Everyone move!" I yelled. We all jumped as far out of range as we could, but it wasn't enough. Streams of poison ooze were fired from half of the mouths. The rest however, breathed out a toxic gas that had an incredibly wide range. It surrounded us in seconds. Looking up at my hp bar, I saw a 'heavy poison' status icon. I looked around and saw the rest of my group was inflicted as well, either with poison or paralysis. Luckily, we had brought a large amount of antidote crystals with us. After activating them, we retreated back towards the entrance where the others had brought Kibao's group. Kibao immediately yelled at us.

"Why did you but in?! We had that thing..."

"Ready to finish you off, along with the rest of your team? Yes, yes you did. Congratulations. Only the biggest of idiots would be capable of screwing up this badly." Helios interrupted Kibao.

Kibao glared at Helios, because he knew he was right.

"We can tell Kibao what a dumbass he is later. Right now, we need to take that boss down." I pointed out.

We all got our weapons ready as the Hydra Orochi came slithering over to us with its eight heads.

"Any plan on how we're gonna pull this off?" Klein asked.

"Well... I... I'm open to suggestions." I sighed. It was rare that I didn't have any ideas for a boss fight. I originally thought we could each go after its heads to keep it busy, but that wide range breath attack made that idea useless now.

"We should fall back." Kirito suggested.

"Yeah, you're probably right." I agreed. We all ran towards the door, but what happened next surprised all of us. Two of the boss's heads slithered past us and completely blocked the exit.

"Oh come on!" I yelled.

"Great. What now?" Asuna asked.

"We teleport." I decided. We all got out teleport crystals.

"Wait. What about us?" one of Kibao's lackeys asked. "We don't have enough teleport crystals for us."

"Of course." Helios sighed. The situation kept getting worse. The one absolute rule the front lines had was that there will be no casualties in a boss fight. Leaving them behind would break that rule completely.

"Well, on the bright side, two of its heads are now occupied by the door" Mai said.

"That doesn't change the fact that we have no idea how to beat this thing." Riku pointed out.

"Ren, we really need a plan." Alice begged. "Come on, you have to have something."

I racked my brain for a plan. One did come to mind, but I was afraid to use it.

"I've got one idea." I admitted. "But it's risky."

"There's no other choice. What is it."

"Alright everyone listen carefully." I said. "There's six heads right now that we have to deal with. The six fastest members here: Kirito, Asuna, Klein, Riku, Mai, and myself will go and distract the boss and get it to use its breath attack. Once it uses it, it seems to have a long stun recovery. The rest of you will use that opportunity to hit it with everything you've got."

This plan would expose the six decoys to extreme danger. We would need to dodge as much of the attack as possible or it would surely kill us. Some people hesitated, but they realized it was our best shot. While the boss had a separate hp bar for each head, the bar was far smaller than that of a usual floor boss.

The six of us charged at the approaching boss. When we were about 10 meters from it, it prepared its breath attack. We all jumped back with all the strength our legs could muster. The attack seemed like an army of poisonous gas ready to swallow us. Looking over, I saw Mai trip back and fall.

"Mai, look out!" I yelled. I jumped straight in and grabbed Mai by her shirt. I threw her back with all my strength. I was not going to let a teammate die, even if it lead to my own death. I prepared to jump back immediately but the gas had already reached me. I got a paralysis effect and fell back.

"Ren!" Mai screamed.

The ooze came closer and closer, touching it would almost definitely lead to instant death.

_So this is how it ends. At least I was able to save Mai. Alice... Kirito... everyone... stay alive._

The ooze was about 10 feet from me when a whirlwind of blue light jumped over and appeared right next to me. It was Kirito! His sword skill was a powerful one known as 'Cyclone Slash'. It had an effect that blew away breath attacks, like the gas around me. He must have gotten the poison effect instead of paralysis. He grabbed me and jumped back just before the ooze reached us. We reached the others by a safe area away from the gas.

"Ren! Thank god you're ok! I'm so sorry... I just..." Mai began to cry.

"It's ok, Mai." I assured her. "You did fine." I turned my gaze towards Kirito. "Thanks man. I owe ya one."

"Consider us even." Kirito said, looking away. I guess the guilt of leaving Klein and me back on day 1 was still biting at him.

As we were talking, several streams of light flashed over us and hit the boss hard. The sword skills everyone was using were all very high leveled. We took out two of the heads, which fell to the ground. The other four we attacked still had about half their hp left. Their delay was over soon after the attacks hit, but the others still were in a delay effect from their sword skills. They all retracted together and aimed for their target: us.

"Crap! And half of us are still paralyzed!" Klein gasped.

The heads all shot straight at us with their fangs ready to slice us. Right before they did, a large armored figure intercepted them. It was a player, but I had never seen him before. He had grey hair and a face that made him look like he was in his late 20s. He had heavy armor on and his shield was almost as big as him. He took the attack like it was nothing.

"What the! Who are you?!" Klein gasped.

"My name is Heathcliff." the player responded. His voice sounded like it was full of power.

"How did you..." Klein asked looking towards the door that should have been blocked by the two heads. To his surprise, both of them were knocked out.

"Incredible!" Klein said in awe.

"You should heal now, while you have the chance." Heathcliff continued.

We were so lost in amazement, that we had forgotten the fight going on. We immediately took out our crystals and healed our status ailments. The four remaining heads had finally recovered from the interception block, and were ready to attack again.

"I'll block it. Once they're busy in their attack, hit them at full force." Heathcliff ordered. We nodded and got our sword skills ready. The boss's heads once again attacked, but Heathcliff's shield took it like it was nothing. At that moment, we attacked with a barrage of sword skills. The remaining heads lost the rest of their hp and fell down. The entire boss shattered like glass. There were so many fragments that it looked like the whole room was shattering.

Once the 'Congratulations' sign appeared, we all collapsed from having our lives flash before our eyes.

"Let's never do that again." Alice said.

"Challenge a boss?"

"Save a bunch of idiots."

In response, we all burst out laughing. All except for Kibao's group of course.

"We could have taken it." Kibao said arrogantly.

"You lost 75% of your team in that fight!" Kirito yelled.

"I don't want to be criticized by beater trash like you!" Kibao countered.

After the first floor boss fight, Kirito's identity as a beta tester was revealed. He got a lot of discrimination afterwards, most of it taking shape from the title of a beater (beta tester + cheater).

"He may be a beater, but he's better than you." Asuna accused. She knew Kirito was a good person at heart.

Kibao glared at us. He knew he was wrong, but his ego wouldn't let him admit it.

"Either way, the Aincrad Liberation Force guild is finished." I pointed out. "You guys have nowhere near enough players to keep up on the front lines."

"We're still the strongest guild on the front lines! Don't act like we're finished just because of one loss!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day...

After we opened the door to the next floor, we teleported back to the HQ for the front lines and explained what happened. The guild leader of the Aincrad Liberation Forces, a man named Thinker, withdrew as head of the front lines assault team. He and what was left of his guild went back to floor 1 where their HQ was.

In his place, Heathcliff was appointed as leader. He declared he was starting a guild called the Knights of the Blood Oath. He had personally invited several players to join. Asuna was one of them. It wasn't surprising since she was one of the top players on the front lines. She had acquired the nickname 'Lightning Flash' due to her incredible speed, and rapid leveling up. Unbeknownst to most players, she was also a wiz at cooking. I had tried her cooking once. It tasted like a five star meal.

"Man, a lot sure happened in the past day." Alice laughed. We were back at the same bench we were at before we ran off to save Kibao. She was right though. The Liberation Force left the front lines, a new guild was being formed, and a player that nobody had heard of was now being called a legend.

"We were lucky Heathcliff showed up." I said. "Otherwise there was no way we would have won without anymore casualties."

"Speaking of casualties, how many players died from the ALF?"

"I think somewhere around 20." I said grimly.

"You almost joined them. Mai can't stop feeling sorry for her mistake." Alice told me.

"We all make mistakes." I said. "The important thing is that we're all their for each other to help us stand back up."

"I think it's going to take more than words to cheer her up. She idolizes you and you almost died because of her."

"Just give her some time." I said.

It did take time, but Mai did go back to her regular self after about a week. Wyvern Inferno gained a lot of recognition as a guild after the 25th floor boss fight. The Knights of the Blood Oath still had a lot more though. People started calling them the top guild. Their skills were being called legendary. Things finally seemed like they were going to get better. This game was starting to feel like it could be beaten.

**I hope everyone enjoyed this boss fight. Comments, reviews, and suggestions are always welcome.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: It's that time again everyone. Time for another chapter. Comments and reviews are welcome.**

The front lines were now at floor 32. The floor had multiple plains and meadows scattered around it. A few towers and ruins acted as dungeons for the floor. It was one of the far more beautiful floors we had seen in Aincrad.

We had been here for about a week already. The boss room would probably be found anytime now. Alice and I were walking along a path that was supposed to take us to a new quest an info broker told Alice about. She wanted me to go with her to complete it. I decided to tell everyone in the guild to have a day off, and I went with her. We had been training on the front lines everyday for months. We needed a day off from farming mobs anyway.

"Thanks for coming with me today, Ren." Alice smiled at me.

"No problem. What's the name of this quest anyway?"

"I believe Argo said it was called the 'Ring of Angel's Whisper'. It's located away from a majority of dungeon areas, so few people know it exists yet." Alice answered.

Argo was one if the most famous info brokers in SAO. She was willing to sell almost any piece of info. She had eventually gotten the nickname 'Argo the Rat'. We had used her as our info broker for awhile now.

Alice had her large scythe slung across her back as usual. It made her seem really intimidating to those that didn't know her. If they ever saw her use it though, they would really piss their pants. She was the top known scythe user in SAO. Her skills with it were deadly. In addition, she had also leveled up her martial arts skills by a fair amount. Her signature martial arts skill 'Rolling Kick' could send a player flying back 50 meters with a direct hit. She would swing her scythe down on the floor, balance her hand on the handle, and kick her opponent while keeping her body completely horizontal midair.

To be honest, the main reason I agreed to going with Alice for this quest was to get some alone time with her. I had really begun to like her. I just didn't know how to say it. Even still, I had no idea what to say. I was partially afraid she'd use her 'Rolling Kick' technique on me if I told her.

We reached the place where the quest giver was supposed to be in 2 hours. It looked like a sanctuary. A lone angel was sitting on the steps to a small shrine in the center with an annoyed expression on her face.

"Hello." Alice walked up. A quest window popped up, asking us if we wanted to start the quest. Alice pressed the 'Yes' tab right away.

"Oh great... I call for help and I get a couple of human lovebirds." the angel sighed.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Alice stopped her, blushing. "We aren't lovebirds."

"Like I care. Well, I guess I have no choice but to rely on you. An evil spirit possessed one of the bunnies in the meadow. It's destroying the whole place. If you two somehow succeed, I'll give you a pair of rings."

"Sheesh. Someone's grouchy." I complained.

"What was that?" the angel spoke up.

"N-Nothing!" Alice answered in my place. "Don't worry. We'll be sure to stop the bunny."

"Sure, sure, whatever. I'll be here waiting for someone reliable to come." the angel sighed.

Alice and I walked away towards the meadow the angel spoke of. I started talking as soon as we were out of earshot.

"What's her problem?" I wondered. "Would it kill her to be nice at all?"

"I know she's... tough to put up with, but let's just put up with it till the end of the quest." Alice argued.

"Fine." I sighed. "Why are you so hooked on this quest anyway? Did Argo say it had some rare equipment as a reward or something?"

"The reward is an item that can't be obtained anywhere else." Alice explained.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's a surprise. No amount of begging will make me spoil it." Alice giggled.

"Oh come on!" I begged. I always got excited when hearing about rare items.

Alice laughed, torturing me with suspense as we walked. A few mobs of monsters popped up, but we dealt with them easily. After about an hour, we made it to a safe zone. We saw two female players there already. It seemed we weren't the only ones taking on this quest.

"Hey. How's it going?" Alice waved hello.

The two of them looked over at us. One of them responded. "We're fine. How about you?"

"Good" Alice replied.

We sat down next to them and we all introduced ourselves. Both girls almost seemed like sisters with their blonde hair. The first one had hair that had a flower in it and fell down a little past her shoulders. She wore a long pink dress. Her face was full of energy and courage. She introduced herself as Rossa. The second girl had much longer hair that seemed to flow with the breeze. She had on a pink shirt underneath some lightweight black colored armor. Her face made her seem very shy. Her name was Kuro.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Rossa exclaimed. "Why don't we all team up?"

Alice and I agreed. It would make completing this quest a lot easier. However, Kuro was a little hesitant.

"Are you sure, Rossa? We can complete this quest with just the two of us."

"Of course I'm sure, Kuro! Stop being so antisocial." Rossa laughed.

We decided to party together and we left the safe zone. Both Kuro and Rossa were very skilled fighters. Kuro used a heavy one handed sword. Rossa used a rapier. It was weird. Other than the fact that they were both girls and that they weren't at eachother's throats, they reminded me of Kirito and Asuna.

"So why are you doing the quest?" Alice asked.

"Well actually, I already did it." Rossa explained. "I'm doing it with Kuro now so she can get the reward too."

"Oh that's nice." Alice smiled. "I never thought of using the quest reward between friends. It seemed like more of a romantic thing."

"Well Kuro and I have been close friends since the game began. I thought it would be good for each of us to have one." Rossa said.

"Would someone tell me what this reward is already?!" I begged.

"You don't know?" Rossa asked, puzzled.

"She won't tell me." I said, pointing at Alice.

"Wow, you really are cruel aren't you?" Rossa laughed.

"Yep!" Alice giggled.

The two girls laughed together while I sighed in despair. I looked over towards Kuro.

"Can you tell me what it is?" I asked.

Kuro just looked away, shyly.

"Great." I sighed. Two girls were torturing me and one was too shy to help.

We eventually reached a meadow at the end of the pathway. It was filled with blooming flowers of various colors. We saw a small bunny hopping out of the flowers and stopped about 10 meters from us.

"Awwwwwwwwww" Rossa and Alice exclaimed in adoration.

"You've got to be kidding me. You do know that's the boss right?" I asked.

Alice and Rossa immediately turned around and gave me death stares.

"Don't be so judgmental Ren!" Alice yelled. "There's no way anything that cute could..."

As she spoke, the bunny let out a ferocious roar. It then grew and grew until it was a giant monstrous rabbit. It stood on two feet and was about 6 meters tall. Alice and Rossa gasped in shock.

"You were saying?" I said.

The monster rabbit swung its paw down at us. The four of us jumped out of the way in time luckily. A small crater was formed where the boss hit the ground.

"Rossa and I will distract it. Alice and Kurro, hit it with everything you got when there's an opening." I ordered.

Rossa and I charged at the boss. When it noticed us, it charged as well. The two of us jumped to the side and out of the way. The boss skidded to a halt, and Alice and Kuro attacked with sword skills. The boss's hp dropped drastically.

We kept this process up for about 10 minutes. The boss only had about 10% hp left. Rossa and I dodged yet another attack from the boss.

"Finish it guys!" I yelled.

"Got it!" Alice and Kuro nodded. Their weapons lit up and they charged. The boss's hp nearly dropped to zero. However, Kuro's final slash missed the boss by a hair.

"Damn!" Kuro cursed. The boss swung its arm at Kuro while she was stuck in the delay after a sword skill, knocking her into the air. She rolled on the ground, barely escaping death. Before she could get up however, the boss prepared another attack.

"Kuro! Look out!" Rossa screamed. She pushed Kuro out of the way and took the boss's attack at full force.

"Rossa!" Kuro cried.

"Damn you!" I yelled. I activated a powerful sword skill and attacked the boss. The boss lost what little hp it had left and shattered. I ran over to Rossa. Kuro and Alice were already beside her.

"Rossa! Why did you save me? Why!?" Kuro cried out.

"Because... you're my... friend..." Rossa said weakly.

"But I'm nothing without you. You're the reason I have to live on in this world. Don't go saving me if you're just going to leave me!" Kuro was in tears now.

"I'll never leave you. Remember I'm always... by your... side." Rossa smiled as she shattered into fragments.

"Rossa... no... ROSSA!" Kuro cried.

"Kuro... I'm so sorry." Alice said in a grim tone. I was going to say something as well, but I didn't know what to say that would comfort her.

"It's ok. It's not your fault." Kuro sobbed. She got up and started walking away.

"Kuro..." Alice started but Kuro interrupted.

"Just leave me alone." Kuro said. She got a teleport crystal out and said a command. I didn't hear the location she said.

"Ren... I feel so bad. Isn't there anything we can do?" Alice asked.

"I wish there was." I replied.

We walked back to the sanctuary the angel was at.

"You actually did it!? You stopped the rampaging rabbit?" the angel gasped. "I'm sorry about earlier. I just didn't know how to trust people. I was betrayed by a human once. I want to show my appreciation. Here, take these." She handed us a pair of rings.

"This is the reward? A couple of rings?" I said.

"Yep! The rings act as a phone. They can be used once a month." Alice explained.

"Then why'd you want to do this?" I asked.

"Duh. To give one to you silly." Alice laughed.

"But you said it was only a romantic present." I said.

"Ah that's... I mean... I... well I..." Alice's face lit up bright red. She sighed.

"Look Ren, I want you to know that I really like..."

I interrupted her by pressing my lips against her. Her eyes opened wide, but then closed, trapped in a trance between the two of us.

"I feel the same way." I said.

We continued kissing for another minute or so until the angel spoke up.

"Ummmmm hello? I'm still here you know."

"Ah! S-sorry!" Alice blushed.

"By the way, I thought you two weren't lovebirds?" the angel said.

"Well... you see... a lot can happen in a few hours." Alice said.

"I see... Well anyway, I wish you the best of luck." the angel smiled.

We walked away, back towards town. Our conversation drifted towards Kuro and Rossa.

"I just wish there was something we could do." Alice said grimly.

"So do I. But we don't even know where Kuro is now."

We mourned Rossa silently as we walked. I also made a promise to myself.

_I promise, Alice. I won't let you die. I'll never let anything happen to you. No matter what happens, I'll protect you._

**I hope everyone enjoyed this. Feel free to post comments, reviews, and suggestions.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Time for another chapter folks. Hope you all enjoy it. Reviews, comments, and suggestions are welcome.**

Everyone was pretty shocked to hear that Alice and I were now a couple. Mai was ecstatic for her sister to be dating someone. Helios pulled some sarcastic crap, but he was happy for both of us. Riku was just shocked.

"Come on, Ren! Teach me your ways! I really need a girlfriend!" Riku begged.

"Well, there's always Mai." I joked.

"Come on. Be serious. Mai's a little kid that's four years younger than me." Riku said. Helios walked up as he was talking.

"Awwww Riku loves Mai. Wow man, I never thought you to be a child molester." Helios joked.

"I just can't win today." Riku sighed, walking away.

"Was the child molester thing really necessary?" I asked Helios.

"Hey, it's his fault for looking like one with that hood." Helios laughed.

Alice and I went on multiple dates after training ended each day. I was kind of nervous, as I had never had a girlfriend before. I could see she was just as nervous though. As time progressed, we got a lot more accustomed to going on dates.

The front lines had now gotten to floor 50. Everyone was getting very excited. We had made it to the half way point. A party was held on the 50th floor to celebrate the achievement. There was usually a party anyway, but this one was far bigger than usual. The next day however, things went back to normal.

The main town of the 50th floor, Algade, was a huge city that almost seemed like a maze. Various shops lined the streets and alleyways. People got lost pretty often. After about a week, people got more accustomed to it.

The front lines had found the boss room after 13 days on floor 50. A strategy meeting was held for the upcoming boss raid. The various guilds met up at the HQ of the Knights of the Blood Oath. Heathcliff spoke up and started the meeting.

"As I'm sure you all remember, the 25th floor boss fight was extremely difficult. It was far harder than both the 24th and 26th. Judging by this information, we should assume the game is set so that each quarter boss fight (floors 25, 50, 75, and 100) is made far more dangerous than usual. That means this upcoming raid should be approached with extreme caution."

We then formatted a battle plan. The tanks from the KBO and HDA would form the front line. Meanwhile, everyone else will discern the boss's attack patterns, then flank and attack the boss. Once we were all in agreement, we left and prepared for the raid, which would take place tomorrow.

"So tomorrow's the big day?" Alice sighed. "It's kind of crazy. When we all logged into SAO, none of us were planning for things to be like this. But now it's like an everyday thing."

"I know" I agreed. "In the beginning, I was just an antisocial high school student trying to stay alive with my friends. Now I'm the head of a guild and one of the main tacticians on the front lines. SAO really changed us a lot."

"You're also one other thing. The best boyfriend ever." Alice smiled.

"Well I thought that was already obvious." I smiled back, following up with a kiss. I tried to stay optimistic for her, but one thing tugged at my mind.

_What will happen tomorrow? This boss fight will undoubtedly be the most dangerous yet. What if I can't keep Alice safe?_

I tried not to let it bother me too much. I needed a clear head for tomorrow. I'll keep her safe no matter what happens.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day...

The players that were part of the raid group gathered at the city gate. In total we had 49 players: 7 parties of 7 people. It was the max amount allowed in a boss room at once.

The raid group consisted of one party of KBO members (including Heathcliff and Asuna), one party of HDA members, and five other parties from various guilds. Kirito and Agil were in my group, since we needed two others and they weren't in any guilds. Agil could easily be accepted in most guilds, but he was busy as a shop manager. Kirito had been invited to top guilds many times, but he stuck to playing solo.

Getting to the boss room wasn't very challenging. We stood in front of the door, preparing and double checking our equipment. Once we were done, Heathcliff gave some words of encouragement, and opened the door.

"Attack!" Heathcliff ordered. All of us charged in and stopped after going in about 50 meters. The room was pitch black, but lit up in a few seconds. Once it lit up we saw the boss, and our faces filled with courage were instantly replaced by shock and fear.

Calling it big would be an understatement. It was easily 12 meters tall. It was a humanoid giant type monster. It had a large heavy hammer in one hand, and wielded a powerful axe in the other. It gave a roar that seemed to shake the very earth itself. It's name was high up by its head but we could still make it out.

'The Gigas Titan'

**A/N: Ok I know this chapter was short. Wanted that big cliffhanger suspense. Look forward to next chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Alright time for the big 50th floor boss fight. Hope everyone enjoys it. As always, feel free to comment and/or review.**

"What is that thing!?"

After getting a single glance at the boss, most players became paralyzed with fear. Our front row of tanks were completely out of formation, with everyone trying to run from the boss.

"Let's get out of here!" yelled one of the players, taking out a teleport crystal. Many others did the same.

"Cowards! What are you doing idiots?!" Asuna yelled. "If we stick to the plan, we can win!" But as she spoke, most players had already teleported away.

"Damn it." I cursed under my breath. Thanks to that pack of cowards, we had lost over half our raid party. It would take forever for them to get back here, if they came back at all.

I looked around at what we had left. My team, the KBO and HDA parties, and a few players from other parties that still had the balls to stay and fight.

What should we do? We don't have anywhere near the amount of strength we had at first. We need a plan now or we're toast. I was lost in panic till Heathcliff spoke up.

"I'll distract the boss. While I do, figure out its attack patterns and weaknesses."

I was in shock. "Are you nuts?! You can't handle that thing all by yourself!" I said.

"He's right, Commander!" Asuna agreed. "Let me help too."

"No. You stay here. Don't worry about me." Heathcliff said as calmly as ever. Even now, he still hadn't lost his composure. He truly was worthy of the title "Man of Legend".

Heathcliff continued to impress as he fought the boss one-on-one. He kept the boss at bay for about half an hour.

"How is he doing that?!" I exclaimed. "He doesn't even seem tired."

"He can't keep this up forever though." Asuna pointed out. "Have you got a plan yet Ren?"

I had no clue what to do. We had probably seen all of its attacks, so we could dodge most of them. However, we wouldn't last long enough to finish it. Our only shot was to attack its weak spot. After watching the boss's movements, I had a pretty good guess what the weak spot was: the boss's neck. The only problem was that it was way too high to reach. We needed something to jump on or something in order to reach it. Once again the boss swung its arm down towards Heathcliff. Its arm hit the ground as he avoided the attack. The arm was so massive, someone could walk across it.

_That's it! We don't need something to jump on! There's another way to get to the neck!_

"I've got it! I know what we need to do guys!" I exclaimed.

Everyone turned to me, wondering what it was.

"Ok listen closely." I said as I explained the plan. Once everyone knew what to do, we got ready. The plan would just involve me, Kirito, and Asuna. Our window of opportunity was small, so including others would be too risky.

We waited as Heathcliff held off the boss. Finally, the boss used the attack we were waiting for. It swung its arm down full force and hit the ground.

"Now!"

At my command, Kirito, Asuna, and I ran at the boss. We ran in a straight line. Asuna was in front, I was in the middle, and Kirito ran in the rear. We ran past the hammer the boss swung down and jumped onto its arm. We kept running up its arm. We all got our best one-hit sword skills ready as our weapons lit up.

"Take this!" Asuna yelled as she slashed the boss's neck and jumped off. Kirito and I followed suit, hitting the boss's neck with powerful slashes, then jumping off. We looked at the boss's hp bar. It had decreased drastically.

"Perfect! It worked like a charm, Ren!" Asuna smirked.

The boss suddenly went into a crazy rage, swinging its axe and hammer randomly. It hit Heathcliff's shield and he was pushed back about 20 meters back. Luckily, the damage wasn't anything serious. But the others were in trouble.

"Everyone look out!" I warned. We all moved as far away from the boss as we could. However, some of the players got backed into a corner by the boss. They had no escape route, and the boss was getting closer to them by the second.

"Where are you looking you oversized piece of trash!?" Helios yelled. He, Alice, Riku, and Mai all charged and attacked the boss from behind. The boss turned around and roared in anger. It chased them as they fell back, allowing the cornered players a chance to escape.

The boss only had one hp bar left now. Even still, we had exhausted ourselves with that last barrage. I didn't know if we could pull it off again. Just when I thought this, the sounds of footsteps were heard. I looked over towards the entrance to the boss room and saw a familiar face.

"Klein?!"

"Sorry we're late guys. Traffic was a nightmare."

Klein had his entire guild team and a few other parties with him.

"What are you doing here?" Asuna gasped.

"We saw the large group of players from the raid group teleport back to town. When I asked what happened, they told us how they turned tail and ran. I gathered some other players and we rushed here to help."

"Thanks man. We really need it." I said.

"Well the hero does tend to show up at the darkest hour." Klein smirked.

"Alright Batman, I wouldn't take it that far." Helios said, rolling his eyes.

With Klein and the others here, we had a much better chance of winning this. I turned to Kirito and Asuna.

"Let's try that one more time." In response, both of them nodded. We yelled over to Klein.

"Distract the boss!"

"Got it!" Klein nodded. His group ran at the boss and attacked. Once they got its attention, they got ready to dodge, but Heathcliff suddenly intercepted the attack with his massive shield.

"Hurry up and get ready!" Heathcliff ordered us.

The three of us nodded and got our weapons ready. Once again, the boss raised its hammer and swung it down. We immediately jumped on its arm afterwards. We got close to the neck and got ready to end it. However, the boss suddenly brought its arm back up and shook it violently. We slashed the arm as much as we could before losing our balance Kirito, Asuna, and I were thrown into the air.

"Damn it! So close!" I cursed.

Kirito barely regained his balance and stuck the landing. Asuna and I weren't so lucky. We rolled on the ground after making a crash landing. Our hp had been hit hard. The two of us could barely stand. The boss walked up to us and prepared to attack. We wouldn't survive the attack.

Suddenly, a barrage of lights came from behind the boss. It was Klein, Alice, Heathcliff, and everyone else. The attacks gradually drained the boss's hp. However, it stopped with a small amount of hp left. Everyone else was in a stun effect from the high level sword skills. The boss once again prepared to attack.

"Not gonna happen pal!" Kirito screamed as he charged at the boss, activating a sword skill. The boss's hp was fully depleted and it shattered. The 'Congratulations' sign appeared. I collapsed from exhaustion, as did Asuna and Kirito.

"Ren! Ren are you ok?!" Alice screamed as she ran over to me. She kneeled down beside me.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Don't worry." I reassured her as I was catching my breath.

"Dummy. You're so reckless." she smiled with tears rolling down her eyes.

I laughed a little. "It's what I do."

Alice started chuckling too.

"Well we're going to have one hell of a story to tell everyone when we get back." Helios said.

"Yeah. If Asuna doesn't kill them all first." Kirito pointed out. After that comment we all bursted into laughter.

"Come on guys. You're making it sound like I'm some berserk general." Asuna complained.

That just made us laugh even more.

**A/N: I hope everyone liked the boss fight. Look forward to the next chapters.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Ok just a heads up, this chapter is short. Haven't had a lot of time for writing this week. Reviews, suggestions, and comments are welcome.**

After the boss fight, we headed back to town. Asuna had some choice words for the deserters when we met them. Luckily for them, she let them off with a warning to never do it again.

It had been two months since the 50th floor boss fight. The front lines were now at floor 58. We had been going up the floors at a steady rate. We were more prepared for boss raids now, and sent scouting parties to get a look at the bosses each time so we knew what we were dealing with.

Alice and I were having a date at a park on floor 47. The floor was covered with flowers. It had gotten the nickname of "The Flower Garden" because of this. It was also a popular spot for couples. We had gotten really close as a couple now. She was leaning on my shoulder as we enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Suddenly, we heard a rustling sound near us. Our heads turned to a nearby flower bush.

"Really guys?" I sighed. "Come on out. We know you're there."

Out of the bush came Helios and Riku.

"All of you." Alice added. In response, Mai came out as well.

"Seriously guys? We're trying to enjoy a date. Do you really have to spy on us?"

They stayed silent like little kids being scolded, until Helios spoke up.

"It was Riku's idea! He made us!"

"Wait! Say what now?!" Riku exclaimed.

"Yeah! He dragged us here to spy on you two!" Mai added.

"Come on guys! I did not!" Riku argued.

Alice sighed, annoyed with them. I chuckled a little. Alice then nudged my shoulder.

"Come on. Don't encourage them." she begged.

"What? Now we're getting a show this way." I laughed.

Alice sighed once again. "Alright guys, you had your fun. Now please leave."

"Fine." they all moaned. The three of them walked away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Helios POV:_

"Why'd you guys blame me?!" Riku complained.

"Cause you broke our cover idiot." Mai replied. "If it wasn't for you, they never would have noticed us."

"Yeah. You ruined everything." I added.

"Why did you want to spy on them anyway? You jealous?" Riku teased.

"Oh please. I could get a girlfriend easily." I said.

"You sure?"

"I know I could get one before you." I bet him.

"Ok then, you're on!" Riku said. "What are the stakes?"

"Loser pays for the winner's first dinner date."

"Deal!" Riku agreed.

"Hold on a second. I want in on this." Mai interrupted.

Riku and I turned to her in shock.

"You're only 13. How are you gonna get a date?" I asked.

"Scared of losing to a little girl?" Mai grinned.

"No! Fine, then loser pays for both winners' dates. If no one finds a date by 10:00 tonight, it will be considered a draw. We meet up here then to see who won." I proposed.

Mai and Riku nodded in agreement and we split up.

**A/N: Look forward to the next chapter. New OC will be introduced. Who will win? Who will lose? Will Riku be a winner? Ok I think we all know the answer to that last question.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Time for the introduction of the new OC. Hope everyone likes it. Please feel free to comment and review.**

I decided to head out into the field of floor 58. There had to be some girls out here. I'll I needed was to find one in trouble and save the day. It would double as training also.

I fought against monsters solo for about an hour. I had begun to get low on healing items. I figured I mine as well head back and restock. As I was about to walk off though, a voice came into earshot.

"Healing crystals! Get your healing crystals right here people!"

I looked over towards where I heard the voice. I was surprised at what I saw. It was a market stand. A female player was standing in the booth with a cheerful smile.

"Get your healing crystals here! One for only 5,000 col, or five for 15,000 col."

I walked up towards the booth. The girl running it looked about 18. She had long red hair tied up in a ponytail. Her eyes were a light blue. She wore a red cloak with a gold trim, along with fortified leather armor. She had black pants with armor on her knees and fingerless gloves. Her boots were metal and she carried a backpack.

"Why are these prices so high?!" one player yelled. "I could get crystals for half that price in town."

"Yes but then you'd have to either waste time walking back, or use a teleport crystal." the merchant smirked. "This saves you from doing either of those. Now unless you're going to buy something, please leave so my paying customers can get their items."

"Why you?!" the player glared. He prepared to take out a sword, but before he could even touch the handle, she already had her sword inches from his neck.

"Careful tough guy. Prices aren't the only thing I cut in half." she smiled innocently.

The player tripped over and fell back.

"Y-You're crazy! I'm out of here!" he cried, running away.

The merchant skillfully spun her sword in the air and sheathed it.

"Sorry about that everyone." she cheerfully said. "Now, is anyone interested in buying something?"

Most players were speechless from her action against the last person. I was a little shocked, but I also liked her style.

"I'll take some." I spoke up.

"Good! How many do you want?" she replied.

"It's five crystals for 15,000 col right?" I asked.

"Yep!"

"Ok. I'll take five."

She opened up a trade window and we each selected what we were trading. I confirmed the trade and the window disappeared. I saw her name from the window before it disappeared.

Dagger. Even her name sounded dangerous.

"Thank you for your patronage!" she smiled.

Suddenly, we were interrupted by a loud roar. We looked towards the field and saw a player running from a large minotaur monster. They were both headed this way.

"What are you doing?! Don't bring it here!" Dagger exclaimed.

The players at the shop ran away. Dagger and I ran towards the side. The monster trampled over the shop and destroyed it.

"Nooooooo! My shop! That cost me 10,000 col!" Dagger screamed. Her face lit up with rage.

"Damn you! You're gonna pay!" Dagger charged at the monster and drew her sword.

"Wait! You can't just..." I started to call out to her, but she had already begun attacking the monster. I drew my battle axe and ran in after her.

The minotaur knocked her back with its powerful axe. Before it could follow up, I slashed it with my own weapon.  
The monster turned towards me and roared loudly. We attacked each other with our weapons clashing furiously. One of my skills eventually knocked its axe up in the air. I ran at it and hit it with a horizontal slash. I was about to finish it, but Dagger ran in and attacked with a barrage of slashes. The monster lost the rest of its hp and shattered.

"Phew. That was unexpected." I sighed. I turned my gaze towards Dagger. "Are you ok?" I asked.

"No I'm not ok! That stand cost me 10,000 col, and this bastard only forked over a measly 250!" she cried. She sighed after calming down a little. "Sorry about that. Thanks for helping me."

"No problem. So will you be ok?"

"Actually, there's one thing I want to sell you." she said.

"Look I already gave you 15,000 col. I can't give you much more." I said.

"This one's on the house." she smiled. Dagger then followed up with a kiss. Our lips stayed locked for a few more seconds.

"How did you like the merchandise." Dagger said.

"Do you have a 2 for 1 special?" I asked.

"Anything for a valued customer." Dagger laughed. Once again, we kissed.

"I guess I should introduce myself. The name's Dagger." she said. "And this..." she started, throwing her sword in the air and catching it "is my blade, Rip-off."

"Rip-off? As in a bad deal?"

"As in ripping off someone's head."

Forget a date to beat Riku. I just found my dream girl. Her sword was just as impressive as her. It was much smaller than a regular sword. The length of the blade was about 2 feet. However, one side was jagged.

"So do you do this to tons of guys to make profits?" I asked.

"God no! The one thing I care about as much as money is love. Also, most of the guys that would buy a girl in this game are either sick in the head or really ugly."

"Well its a good thing I'm neither. Although I do know a hooded guy that falls under both categories."

The two of us walked back to town. We spent the rest of the day getting to know each other better. Dagger was a merchant that sold exclusively on the front lines because of the big business here. I told Dagger about Ren, Alice, and the rest of Wyvern Inferno.

At 10pm, I met up with Riku at the scheduled meeting place. To nobody's surprise, he didn't have a date with him.

"So where's you're girlfriend Romeo?" I joked.

"Shut up." Riku muttered. "At least I'll be sharing the bill with Mai. There's no way she could of got a date."

"Oh is that so?" a voice spoke up. We turned our heads to see Mai standing next to a guy. They were holding hands.

"Oh come on!" Riku complained.

"Poor Riku. So naive and so unloved." Mai laughed. "I'll send you the bill after my date."

Riku sighed in despair and walked away in defeat.

"And here you go." Mai said to the guy next to her, giving him a bag of col.

"Thanks. Pleasure doing business with you." the guy said, walking away.

"Wait a second. You paid a guy to be your date?!" I gasped.

"Of course. There's no way I'd let Riku beat me. I'd never live it down." Mai smirked. "Besides, the money I paid him will come back when Riku pays for my meal."

"I like how this girl thinks." Dagger grinned.

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

_The next day..._

_Ren POV: _

"Wait. You want me to do what?" I asked in shock.

"Let her join the guild. Come on, she'd be a big help." Helios said.

When I had woken up the next day, I got a message from Helios. He asked me to meet him at the town on floor 58. When I arrived, he had a girl with him. She introduced herself as a merchant named Dagger.

"Why does a merchant want to join Wyvern Inferno?"

"For the profits of course!" Dagger smiled. "The front line guilds have all kinds of fans on the lower floors. I could sell stuff saying it was used by you guys, and make a fortune. All I'm asking for is fifty percent of the profits."

"Fifty percent!"

"Trust me. She can get us a ton of cash with her business skills." Helios assured me.

Usually I would turn down this deal immediately. But I trusted Helios's judgement.

"Alright." I gave in. "Just make sure she doesn't screw us over."

"You got it!" Dagger smiled cheerfully.

**A/N: I hope everyone likes the addition of Dagger. New chapter will be up in a week. Look forward to it.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: New week, new chapter. Have fun reading it everybody.**

A few days had passed since Dagger had joined the guild. After watching her fight in the fields, I saw that she was definitely able to hold her own in a fight. But for some reason, I still didn't completely trust her. Some of my items had been disappearing from my inventory overnight. They were simple items that I didn't use, but it still bugged me.

While we were in the field training, we got a message from Asuna that the boss room had finally been discovered. It was still only noon, but it was decided that we should challenge it tomorrow. I told everyone that they could spend the rest of the day doing what they needed to prepare. We split up and went our separate ways when we got back to town. However, I had another reason for this.

I followed Dagger as she left. I wanted to see if she was really trustworthy. As she got on the teleport gate, I hid behind the tablet there and heard her destination.

"Teleport! Town of Beginnings!"

After she teleported, I waited a minute and teleported there as well. Once I arrived, I pulled up my window and tracked her location. I followed her to the fields outside the town. She stopped in the middle of the fields. I was hiding behind a nearby tree. A few other players popped out from bushes, and walked over to Dagger. With my decent listening skill, I could hear their conversation.

"So Dagger, what do you have today?"

"How about this?" Dagger smiled, showing a sword. Something about it seemed familiar. Then it hit me. That was the sword I got from a monster drop the other day. I was going to sell it to Agil later, but it mysteriously disappeared overnight.

"So whose it from?" one of the players asked.

"This was used by Ren, from Wyvern Inferno."

"Woah! Really!" multiple players gasped in shock and awe. Judging from their gear, they seemed to be around lvl 40. These must be those front line fans she talked about before.

"How about we start the bidding at 50,000 col." Dagger smiled innocently.

"Geez. You're as greedy as ever." one of the players sighed.

"I call it good business." Dagger responded.

"And we call it highway robbery." smirked one of the players behind her, putting a dagger to her throat. Dagger widened her eyes in shock as all the other players' faces turned to an evil grin.

"Now boys, is this really necessary?" Dagger said, calmly as ever. I'll give her one thing: she knows how to keep her cool.

"We're tired of your ripoff deals" the head of the group said. "Now how about we start the bidding this time. All your items in exchange for your life."

Dagger was in a real bind. She had no ways of escaping without guarantying her throat being slit. I knew I couldn't sit still. Sure she had stole some of my items, but I couldn't just let her be killed.

"You should have called for some bodyguards." said the guy holding the dagger at her throat.

"I agree. Now if you would be so kind, please remove your weapon." I said, having my sword drawn and millimeters from his back.

The players gasped. "No way! Ren from Wyvern Inferno?!"

Dagger smiled. "You followed me, huh Ren? Guess I need to be more careful."

I smiled back. "You've got a hell of a lot of explaining to do later." I moved my gaze to the players in front of us. "I apologize for her, but please let her go."

The head player glared in rage, knowing there was little he could do. "Fine. Let her go."

The player with the dagger removed his weapon from her throat and walked over to his group of friends.

"We'll be on our way then." I said. Dagger and I began to walk away, but the head player called out to us.

"I never said we would let you leave" he said. He then snapped his fingers, and several other players came out from hiding. We were quickly surrounded. In total, there were about 15 players.

"What you lack in strength you make up for with cowardice I see." I sighed.

"We'll see if you're still so calm once you're dead." the head player smirked. He gave a command to his friends.

"Kill them."

At his command, players charged at us one after another. We deflected their attacks and slashed at them, killing a few, but this wouldn't work for long.

"We need to smash through them." I told Dagger. "See any openings?"

"None." she replied. "What about you?"

After a few seconds, I saw a small opening in their formation.

"Turn towards your 5 o'clock on my signal and run." I whispered. One player charged at me and I knocked his weapon out of the way with a sword skill.

"Now!" I yelled. Dagger and I ran in the direction I pointed out and charged through the group of players.

"Where do you think you're going?!" one player yelled, throwing his dagger right at us. By the time I noticed it, the blade was a few feet from me. There was no time to dodge.

"Look out!" Dagger yelled.

She ran between me and the blade and took the attack in her shoulder. I skidded to a halt as Dagger fell to the ground with a paralysis icon on her cursor. There was no danger to her life, but she was unable to move. The group of players ran towards us. I stood between them and Dagger. They came to a stop, with their weapons ready to attack. There were about 10 left. Their boss walked in front of the group.

"I'd move out of the way if I were you." he smirked. "This is your last chance to run."

"And this is your last chance to stay alive." I replied.

The boss laughed and ordered his friends to attack.

"So be it." I sighed. I activated a sword skill and charged at them. My blade became veiled in a red aura. The distance between us was about 30 meters. A normal sword skill would close that distance in about 5 seconds. But this wasn't any ordinary sword skill.

The players gasped as I closed the distance between us in a mere second. My blade slashed one player and he lost the rest of his hp. My sword still had its glow, ready for the second part of the skill. I spun a full 360 degrees and the players around me were blown away. The slash had a 5 meter radius. A few of them hit the ground and shattered. There were only a few left.

The leader's eyes widened in fear.

"Y-You'll regret this you bastard!" he yelled as he ran away with the rest of his buddies. I walked over to Dagger and used an antidote crystal to heal her paralysis.

"Why did you take that attack for me?" I asked her.

"Rule number 1 of being a merchant: always protect the client." she chuckled. She got to her feet.

"By the way, what the hell was that skill just now?" she asked.

"It's an extra skill." I explained. "I got it about a month ago. It's called Crimson Flash."

"An extra skill! Amazing! Those are super rare!" Dagger exclaimed. "Imagine the money I can make by selling that info."

"Speaking of money, you still need to explain why you were stealing my items in the middle of the night."

"Hey, I only took ones you didn't use." Dagger argued.

"Next time do me a favor and just ask."

"Does that apply to the other members of the guild too?"

"Yes. Well maybe except for Helios. He's the reason we're stuck with you." I said.

"Oh I don't steal from Helios. He's paying me 1,000 col a month to keep me from doing so." Dagger smiled.

"Damn it." I muttered.

"Well don't worry. I'll play by your rules. But can we keep it a secret from Helios so I can keep getting that col each month."

"Deal."

**A/N: That's it for this week folks. I hope everyone enjoyed it.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Alright everyone time for everyone's favorite fight from SAO. That's right it's Gleam Eyes time! As always, please feel free to review and comment.**

The front lines had been going up the floors at a steady rate. We were now at floor 74. The dungeon here had a very complicated layout. The place looked like an abstract painting.

Some of us had gotten new weapons by now. I had a one-handed long sword with a black handle and a blade with the color of flames called 'Inferno Blazer'. Alice had a scythe with a dark-violet color called 'Crescent Moon'. Helios's new battle axe had a red handle with a yellow blade. It was called 'Draco Fang Axe'. Mai had a new rapier with a red handle and shining white blade. The name of it was 'Shooting Star'. All of them were extremely high grade weapons. Although Riku's and Dagger's weapons weren't as new as ours, they were still very good.

We had gone training in the dungeon today. All of our levels were in the early 90s, which was a bit higher than most front line players, except for the elites. On our way to the dungeon, we suddenly heard the sound of marching.

"What the heck is that?" Mai wondered.

"No clue. Better hide and wait for whatever it is to pass." I suggested.

We ran behind a nearby bush. As the sound got louder, several shapes came into view. The were all dressed in heavy armor from head to toe that almost made them seem like knights.

"Aren't those Army uniforms?" Alice whispered.

"Yeah. I think so." I replied.

After going back to floor 1, the Aincrad Liberation Force took full control of the Town of Beginnings. They started to implement laws and force taxes on players. As a result, they had gotten the nickname of the Army.

"But what the heck are a bunch of Army guys doing here?" Helios wondered.

"No clue. At their levels, clearing the dungeon would probably be too tough." I responded.

After they passed us, we waited another minute and came out of hiding. We then walked through the rest of the woods and entered the dungeon.

"This place always creeps me out." Mai said.

"Well let's hurry up and get through this then." Dagger replied.

"So you have more time to rip people off?" Alice asked.

"Yep."

We farmed monsters for a few hours. By the time we reached the safe zone, we were exhausted.

"Finally... Thank god..." Mai said, catching her breath.

As we walked into the safe zone we saw a group of players there. One was a black haired male with a long black coat. Another had long chestnut hair and a white uniform with red trimmings. The rest all had red armor on. We recognized them right away.

"Kirito! Asuna! Klein! Hey guys what's up?!" I waved.

They all turned their gazes towards us. Asuna smiled. Klein waved back. Kirito just stood there annoyed.

"Oh. Hey Ren." Kirito finally replied.

"Yo Ren, you'll never believe this." Klein said. "Kirito and Asuna are in a party."

"So the legendary solo Black Swordsman has finally teamed up with someone." I laughed. "At least you know how to choose a good partner."

"Ren! Come on! It's not like that!" Kirito blushed.

"Yeah. We're just partying. There's nothing romantic between us." Asuna added. She was just as red as Kirito.

Dagger walked up with that innocent smile she always had when she saw a deal.

"Now now, let's not be hasty. You two look like such a lovely couple. And I've got a great sale for couples."

"That's enough." I interrupted. "Dagger, we don't scam friends."

"Maybe you don't, but I have no problems with it." Dagger replied.

"Who's this girl? I don't remember her in your guild." Asuna asked.

"She's new. This is Dagger." I introduced her.

"Well nice to meet you, Dagger" Asuna smiled.

"Likewise Asuna. Now about that deal."

"Sorry. The answer's no."

"Awwwwwww" Dagger moaned.

All of us were laughing together until the sound of metallic footsteps interrupted us. We turned around and saw a large group of players walking towards us. It was the group of Army players. They were even more exhausted than us.

"At ease!" ordered the player that seemed to be in charge. The others practically collapsed and fell over. The head player walked over to us.

"I'm Lt. Corvatz of the Aincrad Liberation Army."

"Skip the formalities and get to your point." I said impatiently. The way these Army guys acted was always annoying. Corvatz glared at me.

"Do you have any data on the area up ahead."

"We got a map leading up to the boss room." Kirito said.

"Hand over that map then, if you would be so kind." Corvatz ordered.

We all gasped in shock. Mapping an entire area was difficult. If he politely asked or offered a trade it would be fine, but this guy was practically ordering us to hand it over like common soldiers.

"Do you have any idea what a pain in the ass mapping is?!" Klein yelled.

"We share our resources with players all the time for absolutely nothing in return!" Corvatz argued.

That was a load of bullshit. Plenty of people had already heard about the harsh taxes the Army made people pay. It had turned into a harsh dictatorial organization that only cared about themselves.

"Who do you think you are?!" Asuna yelled.

"Wait guys." Kirito said. "It's fine. I was gonna make it public when we got back anyway." he opened a window and transferred the map data to Corvatz.

"Thanks for the cooperation." Corvatz said.

"I wouldn't advise you challenging the boss though." Kirito added.

"That's my decision." Corvatz replied.

"I just saw that boss! Trust me, you can't beat it with the condition your men are in!" Kirito said.

"My men are tougher than you think boy."

"Your men are exhausted! They need to be in top form to even consider challenging a boss!" I said.

Corvatz ignored us and ordered his men to get up. They then walked off into the distance.

"The nerve of that guy!" Dagger said. "If I were you, I would have charged him at least 30,000 col."

"Are they gonna be alright?" Klein wondered.

"Yeah. I'm sure they won't just rush in without checking it out first." Asuna said. However, she didn't seem very convinced.

"Mine as we'll go make sure they don't do something stupid." I sighed.

As we were walking off, I went over to Kirito.

"So what's the boss like? You said you saw him, didn't you?" I asked.

"It was a large demonic monster. It had a gigantic sword, but it probably has other hidden attacks too." Kirito replied.

"So any info on its attack patterns?"

"No. As soon as we saw it, Asuna and I ran off."

"It was that scary?!" I gasped. There were few things that could make Kirito run away.

"Yeah." Kirito responded.

Fighting our way to the boss room took about half an hour. Monsters in the way weren't any problem due to our large group. We hadn't seen any trace of the Army players.

"You think maybe they went back?" Klein asked.

In response, a loud scream was heard by all of us. It was undoubtably one of the Army members. We went straight into a sprint and ran towards the boss room. As we ran, another scream was heard.

"Damn idiots!" Asuna cursed under her breath.

"It's floor 25 all over again." I sighed.

The scene we saw when we reached the boss room was in a word: horrific. The Army members were decimated and in trouble. The boss was destroying them. Kirito's description of it was an understatement. The boss was covered in blue skin. It had a goat head and a tail that resembled a cobra. It's sword was massive. Its no wonder Kirito ran when he saw this thing.

"What are you doing?! Hurry and use your teleport crystals!" I called out.

"We can't! They aren't working!" one Army member responded.

"The Aincrad Liberation Army never retreats! Never surrender!" Corvatz yelled.

"You idiot! You'll get everyone killed!" I yelled.

They ignored us and attacked the boss. Their attempt was futile though. Their battle formation was weak and they were severely out powered. The boss swatted them away like flies. One of its attacks sent Corvatz flying right at us. We ran to his side as he fell.

"Hang in there Corvatz." Kirito said.

Corvatz's helmet shattered. He had taken heavy damage. I looked at his hp bar and saw it fall to zero.

"I can't believe it. No way." Corvatz said as his avatar shattered. We all looked at the scattered polygons that used to be Corvatz in horror.

"No... no..." Asuna seemed to be hit the hardest. She wasn't used to seeing players die in front of her since we had always made plans to prevent it in boss fights.

A scream from another player snapped us back into reality. We looked and saw the boss about to finish off another player.

"NOOOOOOO!" Asuna screamed as she ran in the boss room and drew her rapier.

"Asuna!" Kirito yelled, running in after her.

I stared at them as they ran straight in.

"Oh well. If you can't beat em, join em." I sighed as I ran in as well. Klein and the others followed.

"Grab the Army guys!" Kirito yelled back to us.

"Got it!" I nodded.

Mine and Klein's teams grabbed a few Army guys and pulled them towards the entrance. By the time we got them there, Kirito was in a fierce 1v1 battle with the boss.

"Kirito! Get out of there!" I yelled.

Kirito barely avoided another attack from the boss. He then turned towards Asuna and the rest of us.

"Klein, Asuna, Ren, I need a few seconds. Keep him busy."

"We're on it!" Klein responded. The three of us charged at the boss.

Klein attacked the boss but was quickly brushed aside by its massive sword. I followed up with my extra skill Crimson Flash. The attack connected, but the boss didn't seem fazed by it and swung its sword at me. I blocked it with my own blade, but it sent me flying into the air.

"Ren!" Alice yelled. She kicked off the ground and ran over to the spot I was falling towards. She caught me and we both fell over.

"You ok?" Alice asked.

"Yeah. Just dropping in." I smiled.

"Really Ren... That's the best you could come up with?" Alice sighed.

"Ok I admit it wasn't my best joke." I laughed.

We looked back over at the boss and saw Kirito running right at it. He yelled out to Asuna to switch out. His Elucidator sparked across the boss's sword. Suddenly, a stream of emerald light swirled across Kirito's back. The light manifested itself into a new sword. He drew his new blade and attacked the boss.

"He switched swords in the middle of an attack?" Alice gasped.

"No. That's not it. Look closely." I said.

As she took a closer look, she saw what really happened. Kirito's Elucidator wasn't switched out. He still had it. He was wielding two swords at the same time!

"What the hell is that skill?!" I gasped. The others were just as amazed as me.

Kirito's two swords lit up and he performed a barrage attack on the boss. The attack finished off the boss and it exploded into several shards. Looking at Kirito's hp, I saw he only had a little left, but there was still some there.

"Phew... he did it." I sighed. At that moment, Kirito fell over and collapsed.

"Kirito!" we all screamed as we ran over to him.

"Use a healing crystal!" I called out to Asuna. She slid over to him and used one, restoring a decent amount of his hp. However, he was still unconscious.

"Kirito! Wake up Kirito!" Asuna cried. Within a few seconds, Kirito opened his eyes.

"Kirito! Are you ok?!" Asuna asked with tears rolling down her eyes.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Kirito assured her.

Asuna warped her arms around him. "You reckless idiot..."

I turned over to Klein. "How many died?" I asked.

"Corvatz and two others." Klein replied grimly.

"We haven't lost players in a boss raid since floor 67." Kirito added.

"That wasn't a boss fight. That was a suicide attempt. Corvatz was a damn idiot." I replied.

"By the way, what the hell did you do just now?!" Klein asked Kirito.

"Do I really have to tell you guys?" Kirito asked.

"Of course you do! I've never seen anything like that skill!" I exclaimed.

Kirito sighed. "Its a unique skill I picked up. Its called Dual Wielding."

"How do you get it?!" Klein exclaimed with envy.

"No clue. It just showed up about half a year ago." Kirito responded.

"Wow! A player that can use two swords! Do you know how much col I could make selling that info?!" Dagger gasped.

"Don't tell anyone, please. People are gonna mob me if they find out." Kirito begged.

"Too bad. Teleport! Algade!" Dagger said taking out a teleport crystal. She vanished with a blue light.

"Wow... she's loyal." Asuna said sarcastically.

"So much for the secret." Kirito sighed.

"Sorry about that." I apologized.

After a quick rest we all went to the next floor and triggered the warp gate. After a few hours players began mobbing around Kirito, asking for info about Dual Wielding. Dagger made a fortune with the info.

"See what you've done? Now Kirito's got no privacy." I showed Dagger.

"What's your point?" Dagger asked.

"We don't sell out friends!" I exclaimed.

"Why?"

"Because its immoral!"

"Oh right morals... Yeah I don't have those." Dagger smiled.

I manifested one piece of col from my inventory.

"Fetch." I said, tossing the coin.

"MONEY!" Dagger yelled as she ran after the coin.

I sighed and walked back towards my place for a good night sleep.

**A/N: Oh Dagger. Will she ever learn? I hope not, for the story's sake. On another note, I know what a lot of you are gonna say about the Gleam Eyes fight description. It sucked. I realize that and I sincerely apologize. The Gleam Eyes fight was one of my favorites of SAO. I tried to be more descriptive with the story, but it turned out horrible. I was unable to give that fight the awesome badass description it deserved. I will try to make up for it with the next few chapters. Look forward to next week.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Another week, another chapter. I hope everyone likes it.**

A lot happened after we cleared floor 74. Kirito had ended up joining the Knights of the Blood Oath. In addition, Kirito and Asuna had gotten married. Asuna messaged me and all her close friends about it. They didn't want it to become known to the public for fear of being mobbed by Asuna's fan club. I decided to keep the info from Dagger. The two of them also moved to a house on floor 22.

"Alright, here it is." Alice said, holding a flower pot.

We all decided to get Kirito and Asuna a housewarming gift. Alice found a nice flower shop and we bought a couple of flower pots for them. The two of us went to Kirito and Asuna's new house to surprise them.

Their house looked like a log cabin. The scenery around the place looked very peaceful. The atmosphere matched the calm town of Coral that it was in. Alice and I walked up and knocked on the door. It was about 11:00 in the morning so they were probably up by now. The door opened and Asuna stood in front of us.

"Ren?! Alice?! What are you guys doing here?" Asuna asked, surprised.

"Surprise! We got you guys a housewarming gift." Alice smiled.

Asuna's face lit up. "You guys! You shouldn't have!" she smiled.

"Mind if we come in?" Alice asked.

"Please do. I can show you guys the house." Asuna responded.

The house looked very nice. Asuna had definitely put in a lot of time for decoration. As we walked into the living room, we saw Kirito. In addition, we saw a little girl with long black hair.

"Who's she?" Alice asked, puzzled. Her eyes then opened wide. "Don't tell me you were able to..."

"No! No! It's nothing like that!" Asuna replied.

"Oh... For a second there I thought the system might give the option to married couples." Alice said.

Asuna went on to explain. "Her name is Yui. We found her in the woods yesterday. She woke up this morning and has no memory of anything other than her name."

"Seriously?! She can't remember anything?" I gasped. "I've never heard of an amnesia case in SAO."

"We're planning on taking her to the Town of Beginnings this afternoon to see if she has any family there." Kirito explained.

"The Town of Beginnings is pretty big. It would be difficult to cover the entire town in one afternoon with just two people. Not to mention that the Army patrols those streets daily." Alice said.

"Then we'll help." I suggested.

"You don't have to guys. I don't want to trouble you all." Asuna said.

"It's not any trouble. We're friends after all." Alice smiled.

"I'll get the guild together and start asking around the town. Message us when you guys are ready and we'll meet you at the teleport gate." I said.

"Thanks. You guys are the best." Asuna smiled.

After leaving, I messaged everyone to meet up at the Town of Beginnings. When they all arrived, I explained the situation. Everyone agreed to help and we split up. After about an hour, Asuna messaged us that they were coming. We met up with them at the teleport gate.

"Oh my god! She's so adorable!" Mai smiled as she saw Yui. Yui ran behind Asuna.

"Mai! You're gonna scare her if you act like that." Alice told her.

"Sorry." Mai said with her head down.

Yui poked her head out from behind Asuna. I kneeled down to get her at eye level.

"Hi Yui. I'm Ren. This is Alice, Mai, Helios, Riku, and Dagger." I said.

"H-Hello" Yui replied shyly.

"So have you found out anything yet?" Kirito asked.

"Sorry. We covered the north end of town, but we haven't found anything yet." I replied.

"Ok then. Let's all split up and cover the south end." Asuna suggested.

We all nodded and split up. I went with Alice, Dagger and Helios went together, Kirito and Asuna went with Yui, and Mai teamed up with Riku.

"Awwwww! Why do I have to go with Riku?!" Mai complained. She then turned to Dagger. "I'll give you 10,000 col to switch with me."

"All the col in the world wouldn't be enough to make me switch with you." Dagger responded.

We all ended up taking a different road through town. We weren't having any luck though.

"Hey Alice, why did you seem so disappointed when you found out Yui wasn't actually Kirito and Asuna's child?" I asked.

"Cause I thought it would be a cool option for married couples. Wouldn't you like to have a kid?" Alice replied.

"Well sure, but when I'm older. We're not even 20 yet."

"I guess you have a point." Alice laughed.

After about another 30 minutes of asking around, we finally got a lead. We walked up to a man that seemed to be in his early 20s and asked him if he knew anyone missing a little girl.

"Well I haven't heard anything, but a woman named Sasha takes care of a majority of the kids in town." he replied.

"Really!" Alice smiled. "Where can we find her?"

"She lives at the church in town."

"Thanks sir!" Alice replied. The two of us sprinted to the church. As we were running through the alleyways, a scream came into earshot.

"Leave those children alone!"

"What was that?" I wondered.

"It came from over there." Alice pointed. We ran towards the scream's origin and found a red haired girl in her 20s. In front of her were a large group of Army guys.

"Let them go!" the woman screamed again.

"You're not in a position to be ordering us around bitch!" one of the Army players yelled back, slapping her in the face.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Alice yelled over.

The group of Army guys looked over to us. Suddenly, a shout was heard behind the group.

"Ren?! Alice?! Is that you guys?!" The shout belonged to Asuna.

"Yeah! What the hell is going on though?!" I replied.

"These Army guys are bullying a bunch of kids." Kirito answered.

"We're just showing them how things work around here." an Army guy smirked.

"You two should mind your own business. It would be horrible if something happened to that little girl on your back." another guy added.

Asuna glared at them. She was ready to beat the crap out of every single one of them.

"Kirito. I'll take this one." Asuna said, pulling out her sword. She approached the Army guy that seemed to be in charge of the group.

"You want something bitch?" he smirked.

_Oh boy. He's about to seriously regret that last comment._

BAM!

Asuna's rapier hit him at full force. He fell back and covered his face in pain. There was no danger to his life, but he was going to be throbbing in pain for a while.

"That's it! Get her!" he ordered the rest of his friends. They pulled their swords out and charged at Asuna. Before they could even lay a scratch on her though, Alice and I had already blocked their attack with our own weapons. It was surprisingly easy.

"Now is this any way to treat a lady?" Alice smirked. "You guys need a little lesson in manners!" As she said that, she knocked a majority of the Army members' weapons into the air. She then swung her scythe down and activated her martial arts skill 'Rolling Kick'. I ducked and her kick sent the group flying back halfway down the alley. The red haired woman moved out of the way as they flew past her.

"Incredible!" she gasped.

As the Army members got up, I was already right next to them with my sword pulled out.

"Hand over the money you took from those kids NOW!" I ordered. They immediately obeyed and handed over the money.

"Now beat it." I said, walking away. As I had my back turned, one of them charged at me.

"Big mistake." I sighed. I knocked his weapon into the air and hit him with a sword skill 'Vorpal Strike'. He flew back and knocked into the rest of his friends. This time they ran when they got to their feet.

"How pathetic." I said under my breath. I walked over to Asuna, Alice, and the others.

"Here you go." I said, giving the money back to the kids.

"Thanks sir." the kids gasped. I guess they weren't used to seeing a good ass-whooping.

"Jin, Cain, Mina! Thank god your ok!" the red haired woman exclaimed as she ran over to them.

"Ms. Sasha!" they all cried, running over to her.

"Wait? Sasha!? Are you the woman that takes care of the kids at the church in town?" Alice asked.

"Yes that's me." Sasha replied.

"Thank god. We've been looking everywhere for you."

"Me? Why?"

"Well, you see..."

Suddenly Alice was cut off by an ear piercing shriek that came from Yui.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

Followed by her scream, the entire area seemed to echo with an unpleasant noise. Yui was about to fall over, but Asuna caught her just in time. Alice and I ran over to her.

"Is she alright?" I asked.

"I...I'm scared Mommy." Yui cried, shivering.

"It's ok Yui. I'm here." Asuna softly said.

"What the hell was that?" a voice popped up. We turned our heads to see Dagger, Helios, Mai, and Riku.

We explained the situation to them. Afterwards, Kirito and Asuna took Yui back to their house. We all agreed to meet Sasha tomorrow at 10 am.

**A/N: Sorry about posting this late. Been busy with graduation. But guess what? Now it's summer and I'm free to write as much as I can. Look forward to it.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Time for the Yui conclusion. I always cry when I watch this episode of the anime. Don't judge me. Anyway, I hope everyone likes it.**

"Wow. There's so many of them." I said.

After the Army incident yesterday, we all decided to call it a day to let Yui rest. The next day we went to the church where Sasha took care of the kids. The amount of kids there was enormous. We were currently eating breakfast with them. Yui was feeling a lot better today.

We explained Yui's situation to Sasha. Unfortunately, she didn't know anything about Yui. As we were wondering what to do next, we heard a knock at the door. We opened it to find a woman with grey hair and a black and grey uniform.

"Hello. I'm Yulier." she introduced.

"Aren't you the vice-captain of the Army?" I asked. "I hope you're not here to make trouble over yesterday."

"God no!" Yulier assured us. "You did the right thing by putting those men in their place. I actually came here to ask a request of you."

"A request?" Asuna asked.

We all went inside and took a seat in a separate room. I didn't know what this request was, but I didn't completely trust her.

"I should apologize for those men yesterday. When this guild started, our Leader Thinker never wanted it to become the dictatorial organization it turned in to. All we wanted was to share food and resources among as many players as possible."

"Then how did it turn into the way it did?" Alice asked.

"Well after the trouble we had on floor 25, a large power struggle occurred. After that, a player named Kibao ended up with a large amount of power."

"Oh god. That pain in the ass again." Helios sighed.

"Kibao and his faction ended up taking money from players under the pretext of collecting taxes. He seemed uninterested in clearing the game, which angered a lot of people. To appease them, he sent his highest level players to the front lines. After that massacre, we've began to seriously consider kicking him out. However, Kibao set a trap for Thinker in an underground dungeon. He's been stranded there for three days now."

We all gasped at this story. If Thinker has been stranded there for three days, things were only going to get worse.

"I want to help Thinker, but my level is way too low. Then I heard about a group of high level players in town. I came here because I need your help. Please! I'm begging you!"

"We'd be happy to help, but the thing is we need to know you're telling the truth." Asuna replied.

"I know I'm asking a lot, but when I think about Thinker trapped in that dungeon, I feel like I'm losing my mind!" Yulier begged.

This put us in a tough spot. If she was telling the truth then Thinker needed help as soon as possible, but if this was a trap who knows what could happen.

"It's ok." Yui spoke up. "She's telling the truth."

"Yui! You can tell?!" Asuna gasped.

In response, Yui nodded. Kirito chuckled a little.

"Oh what the heck? I'd rather help and be sorry than not help and be sorry. It'll all work out."

"Whatever you say Mr. Easygoing." Asuna sighed. "Alright we're in."

"Thank you so much." Yulier smiled with tears rolling down her face.

We decided to have Kirito, Asuna, and myself go with Yulier. Yui ended up joining us as well. I told the others to stay at the church, just in case Yulier was lying. Even with Yui's approval, I still didn't completely trust her.

The dungeon was located under the Town of Beginnings. It seemed to go further down as the floors above were cleared. A few mobs of monsters appeared, but Kirito and I took care of them with ease. After a few hours, we got towards a safe zone.

"We're nearly there." Yulier said.

I could see a light at the end of the corridor. It must be the safe zone.

"One player is inside." Kirito confirmed with his vision skill.

Yulier ran straight towards the room.

"Thinker!" she cried.

Thinker waved his hands as we ran.

"Yulier! Yulier!"

I guess she wasn't lying. That's good to know.

"Don't come! The corridor's rigged!"

_What?!_

As Yulier ran ahead of us, a scythe began to manifest out of one of the walls.

"Yulier! Wait!" Asuna screamed.

Kirito sprinted ahead of us and pushed Yulier out of the way at the last second.

A large cloaked figure floated away at the intersection of the corridor.

Asuna took Yui off her back and handed her over to Yulier.

"Take Yui and get to the safe zone."

Yulier nodded and brought Yui over to the illuminated room.

"Get her out of here!" I told them. Yulier and Thinker got their teleport crystals out. I ran over and got a look at the boss.

"What is that thing?!" I gasped.

It had a dark black cloak on. Its face looked like a skull. The scythe it wielded was huge. Its cursor read the name 'Fatal Scythe'. It gave the impression of the grim reaper.

The Fatal Scythe swung its weapon at Kirito and Asuna. The two of them used their blades to block it, but they were brushed away like they were nothing. Their hp took a big hit. The monster readied another attack.

"No you don't!" I yelled, charging at the monster. I intercepted the attack, but I got blown away from the hit. I hit the ceiling and landed on the floor hard. My hp was in the red.

"Damn it... It's too strong." I muttered. The three of us couldn't even stand. Once again, the Fatal Scythe readied an attack. However, a small figure stood in between us and the boss. It was Yui!

"What are you doing?! Run!" Asuna screamed.

The monster swung its scythe right at her.

"Yui!" Asuna screamed. I couldn't look.

I heard the impact of the blade. I opened my eyes expecting to see Yui gone. However she was standing right there. The attack never connected. A violet barrier blocked the attack and read a message across it.

Immortal Object.

_What the hell?!_

I couldn't even begin to understand what was going on as flames surrounded Yui and manifested into a giant orange sword. Yui grabbed the sword and attacked the monster. It became engulfed in flames and disappeared.

"Yui... what was..." Kirito began.

"Daddy. Mommy. Ren. I regained my memory." Yui said.

We went to the safe room for her to explain further.

"The entire world of SAO is actually controlled by a signal system known as Cardinal. It controls everything from monster spawns to drop rates. There are many other systems that are a part of Cardinal." Yui explained. She then paused for a moment.

"Mental Health Counseling Prototype One. Codename: Yui. That's me."

The three of us stood there in shock.

"A program? An AI? No, that can't be." Asuna said. "But what about your amnesia?"

"On the opening day of SAO, the Cardinal system banned me from interacting with the other players. As time progressed, errors grew inside me. However, one day I saw two players that weren't afflicted with negative emotions in the system. That was you two. I wanted to meet you for the longest time." By now, Yui's face was covered in tears. "All I am is some stupid program."

"No you're not." Kirito interrupted. He kneeled down beside her. "The system can't control you anymore. So tell us. What do you want?"

"I... I... I want to stay with you two forever. Mommy. Daddy." Yui cried.

Asuna held Yui in her arms. "You got it. We'll be together forever."

"It's too late for that though." Yui said. "When I defeated the monster in the corridor, I went against Cardinal's orders. I'll probably be deleted soon."

"What?!" Asuna gasped. Yui began to be enveloped in light.

"No! Yui!" Kirito exclaimed.

"Yui please! Don't go!" Asuna cried.

Yui touched Asuna's face softly.

"Smile Mommy." And with that, Yui dispersed into dust.

"No... Yui..." I could barely speak.

Kirito yelled out into the air. "Damn you! Kayaba! Cardinal!" He moved over to the console Yui sat on and started typing.

"Kirito? What are you..." I started to ask, but a bright flash suddenly hit Kirito back. In his hand was a tear shaped item.

"What is that?" Asuna asked, taking the item.

"Your holding... Yui's heart."

Asuna began to cry. Kirito moved over to comfort her.

I couldn't bear this any longer. "I'll give you guys some time alone." I said. I took out a teleport crystal and headed back. I stood at the teleport gate of the Town of Beginnings with tears rolling down my eyes.

"Dammit. Why?" I said under my breath.

I headed back to the church. When I got there. Yulier and Thinker were already inside. We all went to an isolated room in the church so I could explain what happened.

"This room. Can the kids outside hear us." I asked.

"No. Why?" Sasha asked. In response I swung my arm at one of the walls full force.

"GOD DAMMIT ALL!" I yelled with tears rolling down my face. Everyone gasped at my rage.

"Ren? What happened?" Alice asked. "Where are Kirito, Asuna, and Yui."

"Kirito and Asuna are fine... but Yui..." I took a seat and explained everything. When I finished, everyone was speechless. We all sat there, silently mourning Yui for a few minutes. Suddenly we heard a large commotion outside.

"What now?" Sasha asked.

We went outside and saw a large group of Army players standing at the church. Kibao was in the front.

"Are you the guys that interrupted official Army business yesterday?" Kibao glared.

"Yeah. What about it?" I glared right back. I was in no mood for this crap.

"This city is Army territory! What I say goes!" Kibao yelled.

"Actually, I believe its what I say goes." Thinker said, stepping outside.

"Thinker?! I thought you were..."

"Dead? Yes I almost was thanks to you." Thinker said. "Oh by the way, I've decided to kick you out of the Army. I hope that doesn't make you mad or anything. Your friends are also kicked out."

"Why you!" Kibao growled. "That's it! I've had it with you! I challenge you right now to a duel! Winner takes control of the Army!"

"Thinker will not be doing anything of the sort!" Yulier yelled.

"Oh is he too scared?" Kibao smirked.

"No. Its because I'm gonna duel." I interrupted. "Unless you're too scared.

"What?!" Kibao gasped. "Ugh! Fine! You vs me!"

"You don't have to do this." Thinker said to me.

"Yeah I do. I'm sick of the way this guy is treating players." I said.

Kibao and I stood apart from each other at the entrance of town. The countdown was now at 10 seconds.

"I'm gonna crush you!" Kibao glared. He held a two handed sword in his hands.

Finally the timer hit zero, and the duel began. Kibao activated a sword skill and charged at me.

"Raaaahhhhhhhhhhh!"

As he got closer I just stood there. Once he got about 3 meters from me, I swung my sword straight up with the sword skill 'Vertical Arc'. Once his weapon was knocked in the air, my blade was swung right down and took a large portion of Kibao's hp. He was sent flying back. His hp hit the yellow, and the duel ended.

"No way?!" Kibao gasped.

"You lost. Now get lost." I glared. Kibao got to his feet and ran off, along with the rest of his faction.

"Nice job Ren!" Alice cheered.

Thinker walked up to me. "Thank you. I owe you a great debt." he said.

"Don't mention it." I replied.

Alice, Helios, myself, and the rest of Wyvern Inferno headed out. We went back to the front lines.

"Hey Ren... do you think we'll ever see Yui again?" Alice asked.

I paused for a moment before answering.

"Yeah. Kirito told me that Yui's main program was saved to his Nerve Gear. When we return, we'll find a way to bring her back."

Alice seemed a little reassured from that.

_Yes. We'll definitely see her again. We just have one more reason to go back to the real world. And I know we'll do it._

**A/N: I loved writing the ending for this. In the anime, I always wanted to see Kibao get his butt kicked. Look forward to next week.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Guys the feedback I've been getting is great. I hope you all keep enjoying this story.**

A week had passed since the whole Yui incident. We were back on the front lines again. Kirito and Asuna were still on their leave. I hoped they were doing alright. On the bright side, we had found the boss room of floor 75 yesterday. A recon team was sent this morning to check out the boss. They were due back soon.

"Time for another raid, huh Ren." Alice smiled as she sat next to me. "You nervous?"

"Yeah." I responded. "After all, this is floor 75. If it's anything like floors 25 and 50, things could get ugly fast."

"Well were still gonna win. I know we are." Alice said.

"Hey Alice..."

"What's wrong Ren?" Alice asked.

"I want you to promise me something. If things go bad in there tomorrow, promise me you'll get out of there immediately. I don't care if there's an order to withdraw or not. Just teleport out if things go wrong."

Alice stared at me for a few seconds. Then she took her hand and slapped me right across the face. I fell right off the bench.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" I asked, covering my face.

"Don't ever say something like that again, got it?!" Alice yelled at me. "There's no way in hell I'd ever leave you and run away! No matter what happens I'll stay by your side!"

I kept my head down like some kid being scolded.

"I'm sorry." I said. "Its just that I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. I couldn't live with myself if you died and I survived."

Alice kneeled down and wrapped her arms around me.

"You know for a tactician, you're pretty stupid." she laughed. "I feel the same way about you silly. But neither of us is going to die tomorrow. That's because we'll always have each other's backs. Right?"

I finally pulled my head up.

"Yeah."

We got back on the bench together.

"I've got a new promise I want you to keep." I said.

"What is it?"

"If things get ugly tomorrow, promise me you'll bitch slap the boss like you just did to me. That'll be a one hit KO for sure." I laughed.

"Yeah. You got it." Alice laughed as well.

Suddenly a message window popped up in front of me. It was from Heathcliff. I tapped it and the message appeared.

"Come to KBO HQ immediately." it read.

"I guess the recon team got back." Alice said.

"Yeah. Let's get going then." I nodded.

We went to the HQ of the Knights of the Blood Oath. When we entered the meeting hall, we saw Heathcliff and some of the higher ups in the guild. We also noticed the leaders of a few top guilds were present. In addition, most of the top front line strategists were there.

"Good. Now everyone's here." Heathcliff said.

"Wait. Where's the recon team?" I asked.

Everyone had a grim look on their face. Heathcliff finally lifted the silence.

"They were wiped out."

_What?!_

Alice and I stood there in shock. The recon team had never gotten a death before. Even if this was the 75th floor, they should have still been able to teleport away quickly if the danger level was too high.

_Wait! There was a way they might not be able to! We witnessed it on the last floor boss room._

"Don't tell me..."

"Yes. The boss room was an 'Anti-Crystal Area'." Heathcliff said. "In addition, the doors closed once they walked inside. After about five minutes, they opened and the room was completely empty. No sign of the recon team or the boss."

"No way..." I gasped. This meant that we had no means of escape once the boss fight started. We had no info going in. And the doors wouldn't open until one side was left standing. It was undoubtedly going to be the most dangerous fight yet.

"We've decided to create a raid group made up of various guilds. We're also recalling Kirito and Asuna back. The raid is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at 3:00." Heathcliff explained.

"We'll be there." I said.

"Good. Since we have little info to go on, the KBO party will attack the boss, while everyone else will discern the boss's attack patterns and flank it. Unless there are any questions, you are all dismissed."

Everyone left the room. We were nervous about what might happen tomorrow, but we were ready. I messaged the info to the rest of the guild. It was late afternoon so Alice and I went to a restaurant to eat dinner.

"Things just keep getting more and more interesting don't they?" Alice said. It was obvious how scared she was. I was too. There was no telling what might happen. All of us on the front lines learned to just try and laugh off the fear. If we didn't, most of us would probably wet our pants at each boss fight.

"Yeah. Akihiko Kayaba must be having a laugh right now." I chuckled.

"I hate his guts and want him dead. But at the same time, I'm kinda grateful for what's happened." Alice said.

"How so?"

"Well if this whole death game never started, I never would have met you, Helios, Kirito, Asuna, and everyone else. You guys are some of the greatest friends I've ever had."

"Yeah. I guess you have a point." I smiled.

After dinner, we headed off to bed and got ready for tomorrow.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_The next day..._

"Time for the moment of truth." I said.

We were all waiting around the square of floor 75. Everyone had a very serious look on their faces. It was understandable. After all, we had no idea what to expect today.

The teleport gate flashed and two players appeared. It was Kirito and Asuna.

"Hey guys! How's it going?" Alice waved. The two of us ran over to them.

"Hey guys." Asuna smiled. "So you're coming too?"

"Yep. Someone's gotta keep Ren from doing something stupid." Alice laughed.

"It's the same reason I'm here with Kirito." Asuna joined in.

Kirito and I just stood there annoyed. The teleport gate flashed again and this time the KBO members and Heathcliff entered. They walked down past the group of players. Heathcliff pulled out a large rectangular blue crystal.

"Isn't that..." Alice began.

"Yeah. Its a corridor crystal." I said.

"I'm surprised he'd use one. Those cost a fortune." Asuna added.

"Well we can't afford to use up our strength getting there." Kirito pointed out.

"True."

Heathcliff activated the crystal and a portal opened up. Everyone passed through it, and we were transported to the entrance of the boss room. Everyone began checking their equipment and readying themselves. Once we all finished, Heathcliff spoke up.

"The Knights of the Blood Oath will be up front, taking on the boss. While we do, everyone else should discern the attack patterns and flank it. I know it will be a difficult battle, but we will prevail. For our day of liberation!"

After his words, everyone cheered and got ready. Kirito faced me, Agil, and Klein.

"Don't die guys."

"Same to you." Klein said.

"No need to worry about me." I grinned.

"I'm gonna live through this and make a fortune." Agil replied.

The doors opened. Everyone was prepared.

"Attack!" Heathcliff ordered.

At his command, we all charged into the room. We spread out a little. After a few seconds, the doors behind us closed and disappeared. We were left in silence.

The room was a circle. There was nothing overly special about it. But the boss was nowhere to be seen. There was nothing here.

"Nothing's happening. What's going on?" Alice wondered.

Suddenly I heard a faint noise. It sounded like rattling bones. I couldn't tell from where though.

_Nothing in front. Nothing behind. Right and left are empty too. Where is it?_

Suddenly the answer hit me. However, Asuna realized it first.

"Above us!"

We all looked straight up at the ceiling. Some of us soon wished they hadn't.

_What is that thing?!_

The boss had an extremely long body; kinda like a scorpion. It was made entirely out of bones. It had two long scythes for hands. It's name read 'The Skull Reaper'. It fell from the ceiling and slithered down.

"Split up! Get away from it!" Heathcliff yelled.

Everyone ran at full speed as far to the edges as possible. A couple of players were too scared to move though.

"What are you doing?! Hurry up and run you idiots!" Kirito yelled. The finally regained their senses and started to run, but it was too late. The Skull Reaper was upon them before they could do anything. One swing of its scythe sent them both flying. They shattered before even landing.

"No way... That was one hit!" I gasped.

"That's insane!" Alice agreed.

The boss slithered to its next target at incredible speed. Heathcliff intercepted the attack, but it simply moved past him. This time Kirito intercepted, along with Asuna.

"We'll deal with the scythes! Everyone else, attack from the sides!" Kirito yelled.

The rest of us charged at the boss at full speed. I activated a sword skill and attacked the boss with a barrage of slashes. As long as we could keep the scythes occupied, we could do this.

"Take this you bastard!" Alice screamed, slashing the boss right by me with her scythe. We caught each other's gaze and smiled. We could do this. Suddenly, a long figure came into view behind her. It was big and grey.

It was the Skull Reaper's tail. It could attack without the scythes! The tail made a beeline towards Alice.

"Alice! Look out!" I yelled. I shoved her to the side and got my sword ready. The tail hit it and I was sent flying to the edge.

"Ren!" Alice screamed. She ran over and skidded to a halt beside me as I laid on the floor. She immediately healed me with a crystal.

"You ok?" I asked.

"Forget about me! Are you alright?!" Alice cried.

"Yeah. I'll live." I replied, sitting up.

Alice wrapped her arms around me and started crying.

"Dummy... Stop being so reckless." she sobbed.

"I think we both know that's never going to happen." I chuckled.

"You moron. What am I gonna do with you?" Alice said with a chuckle as well.

She helped me up and I took a look at the boss. Multiple flashes of light were slashing at the boss. I turned my gaze towards the boss's hp bar and my mouth dropped.

It had barely taken any damage at all!

_Attack that can one hit KO top level players. Speed that makes it nearly impossible to keep up with. And the defense of an iron wall. Does this thing have ANY weak spots?!_

"How are we gonna beat that thing?" Alice shivered.

"No clue." I replied.

"Well think of something fast!" Helios yelled coming up next to me. Mai, Dagger, and Riku were with him too.

I watched the boss rampage around, slashing at Kirito, Asuna, and Heathcliff. It's tail swung around, knocking multiple players back.

_Come on! Think! This thing's gotta have some weakness! Figure out what the hell it is, dammit!_

Suddenly I realized it. The Skull Reaper had one large weak point. Its defense wasn't built like a wall, but like a turtle! The outer layer had an impregnable defense. The underbelly however, might be a vital weak point. Getting to it wouldn't be easy though.

"Alright guys, listen closely. I've got an idea." I said.

"Finally!" Helios said.

"Mai, Dagger, and Riku will run at the boss. You guys need to preoccupy its tail. I'll run under the boss and attack. Helios, you cover me till I get there in case the distraction doesn't work. Alice, I want to to attack with me."

In response, everyone nodded and got ready.

"Think you can stop your sarcastic jokes long enough to cover Ren, Helios?" Riku joked.

"Heh. Think you can stop being the equivalent of a meat shield long enough to distract him?" Helios grinned.

"Try not to fall behind you two. It'd be embarrassing to get shown up by a little girl." Mai smirked.

"Usually I charge money for risking my life, but I'll make an exception this time. This one's on the house." Dagger smiled.

"Let's do this. Time to show what Wyvern Inferno can do!" Alice yelled.

"Ready? Go!" I ordered. The six of us kicked the ground and charged at the boss.

**A/N: Yeah! Time to see Wyvern Inferno kick some butt! I hated that this fight was never shown in full, so I made up my own version of it. Hope you all like it so far.**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Time for the conclusion of the Skull Reaper fight. Hope you all enjoy it. And to those of you saying I'm rewriting the novel, I admit you are fairly correct. I've been in a bit of writers block. This chapter will be half original and half part of the story.**

"Let's go guys!" I yelled as we charged at the Skull Reaper. Mai, Riku, and Dagger split up from us as we got closer and went for its tail. Helios, Alice, and I headed for its legs.

"Find an opening in that army of bones and slide under it." I explained.

"Right." Alice nodded.

"You do know what your doing, right?" Helios asked.

"I sure hope so." I smirked.

Helios sighed as we got about 20 meters from it. I looked over towards the tail. Mai and the others had it occupied, but they wouldn't hold out for long.

_This better work._

Alice and I slid under the Skull Reaper. The distance we had between its two sides was a little more than our arm span. The length from its head to tail however was extremely long.

"Slash it and run towards the end of it!" I yelled.

"Got it!" Alice replied.

Both of our weapons lit up and we charged across the boss's underbelly. Our sword skills were only signal slashes, but by targeting the end of the Skull Reaper's body we could make one long lasting slash.

"Take this!" I yelled as my blade cut a stream across his underbelly. Alice and I exited at the end of the body. I looked back at the boss. It was screeching in pain and its hp bar had dropped by a drastic amount.

"Way to go Ren!" Alice cheered.

"Thanks." I smiled. Alice and I charged at the boss yet again. This time we stuck to attacking at its sides. I doubted that kind of attack from under it would work again.

The battle against the boss went on for another hour. We were running on adrenaline now. The boss's hp bar was finally in the red though.

"Alright everyone! One last attack!" Heathcliff yelled.

We all charged at the boss. Several streams of light made contact. The boss's hp was nearing the end. Suddenly, it let out a monstrous roar. It spun its body violently a full 360 degrees. We were all pushed away. Our hp took a big hit.

"Damn it! We're so close!" Helios complained.

The boss continued on a violent rampage. Getting it to stay still would be next to impossible now.

"What do we do now?" Asuna wondered.

Everyone was running out of gas. We needed to end this now.

_It's risky... but I have no choice!_

"Kirito! Asuna! Heathcliff! Can you get it to stay still?!" I asked.

"The second after we intercept an attack, it'll recover and keep rampaging." Kirito said.

"A second will have to do! Just trust me!" I said.

Kirito and Asuna looked at each other for a second then nodded.

"Alright. We're counting on you, Ren." Kirito replied.

"Got it." I nodded.

"Ren, are you sure you can do this?" Alice asked. "If this doesn't work you'll... you'll..."

I knew what she was thinking. If this didn't work I was going to die.

"I won't fail." I responded. "Trust me."

Alice shed a couple of tears, but she nodded.

"Alright. I believe in you, Ren."

I turned my gaze towards the boss. I looked at Kirito, Asuna, and Heathcliff to see if they were ready. In response, they all nodded.

_One last attack, risking it all. I can't believe I'm doing this._

"Now!" I said. All of us charged at the boss. Kirito and Asuna attacked one of its scythes. Heathcliff blocked the other with his shield.

"Now Ren!" Kirito yelled.

I increased my running speed and got into the posture for one last attack. The boss's tail was headed straight for me though.

_You may be powerful, but you still can't match my speed._

"You can do it!" Alice cheered.

I put what remaining strength I had into one final skill. My extra skill, Crimson Flash. I roared out at the boss.

"Raaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!"

My sword cut through the boss. With the second slash, the boss fell back and shattered.

"I... I actually did it..." I gasped.

The Congratulations sign appeared. There wasn't any cheers though. We were too exhausted and collapsed to take a chance to catch our breath. Alice ran over and sat down next to me. She wrapped her arms tightly around me.

"Ren... Thank goodness you're alive." she sobbed.

"Yeah... I'm fine." I said. "We made it through."

"Yeah. We did." Alice nodded.

We all sat in silence for a bit. We were to exhausted to even speak. Klein finally broke the silence with one question that was on everyone's mind.

"How many did we lose?"

Kirito pulled up a map of the boss room and counted up the dots.

"Fourteen us us died." he said grimly.

Everyone gasped at the info. We couldn't believe it.

"We still got 25 floors to go. How are we gonna even make it that far?" Agil wondered.

Everyone all had either depression or fear painted on their faces.

"Twenty-five floors... Ren, can we even make it that far?"

"I don't know." I replied. We were exhausted and tired from this fight. No doubt more players would sign off from the front lines. And the boss fights were only going to get tougher. Then we still had the final boss left.

_Will we really be able to make it out of here?_

Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by a loud clang. I looked and saw Kirito attack Heathcliff, but it was blocked. The thing that blocked it wasn't his shield though. It was a violet barrier with words on it.

Immortal Object.

_What?!_

Everyone stared in shock. I had only seen that message once before, and that was with Yui.

"Immortal Object? Commander, what is the meaning of this?" Asuna asked.

"I can answer that." Kirito said. "The system protects his hp from going bellow the green zone. And the reason behind that is pretty simple. I just figured it out a second ago though."

_What's he getting at?_

"You see, I always wondered where he sits while watching us play this game. But I realized something. There's nothing more boring than watching someone else play an MMO. Is there, Akihiko Kayaba?"

_What?!_

My mouth was wide open. I couldn't believe it. Several other players had the same expression as me. Heathcliff was Kayaba all along?! Could it be true?

Heathcliff smirked. "Just for my curiosity's sake, how did you figure it out?"

"When we had our duel. That last move was way too fast." Kirito responded.

"I figured as much." Heathcliff said. He looked around at the other players. "Yes I am Akihiko Kayaba. In addition, I'm also the boss on floor 100."

"No way..." I gasped. All this time, Heathcliff... no... Kayaba had been toying with us like fools.

Heathcliff opened his menu and tapped a few buttons. Suddenly, my body went numb. Looking at my hp bar, I saw that I was inflicted with paralysis. I noticed everyone else was the same.

"What's the plan? Kill us and cover it up?" Kirito asked.

"No I have a different idea. I'll head to the top floor and wait for you all there. But first, I will give you a chance Kirito. You can duel me now 1v1. Win, and everyone will be free and logged out."

_He can't be serious._

"Fine. You're on." Kirito responded. He pulled out his two swords and walked over to face Heathcliff.

"Kirito! Don't do it! Use your head!" I yelled.

Kirito turned his gaze towards me.

"Ren, when we first met, I put you through some tough times by abandoning you and Klein on day 1. I'm sorry. I regret it each day. But it never seemed to bother you. It was like you agreed that I did the right thing. But I didn't. You became strong on your own though. You became a better person than I ever did. I'm proud to call you my friend."

"DAMMIT KIRITO! SHUT UP!" I yelled. He looked at me in shock. "Don't you dare apologize to me like this! I won't forgive you! Not until you say it to my face when we get back to the real world!" By now, I was practically crying.

"Got it. See you on the other side then." Kirito smiled.

_You better not die you idiot._

"If you don't mind, I have a request." Kirito said turning back to Kayaba.

"What is it?"

"If I die here today, I want you to set it so that Asuna can't kill herself. Just for a while at least."

"Very well."

"No Kirito! You can't do that! Its not fair!" Asuna screamed.

This was it. The final battle. It hurt to say it, but if Kirito lost this it was all over. We would lose both him and Asuna. Without those two, there was no way we'd beat Kayaba.

_Damn it! If only I could move! I feel so useless!_

Kirito charged at Kayaba with his two swords. It quickly became a furious clash between sword and shield. Every slash Kirito used was blocked by Heathcliff.

"Why isn't he using any sword skills?" Alice wondered.

"He can't." I explained. "Kayaba designed every inch of this game. He knows every sword skill there is. Sword skills are useless in this fight."

"No way... How can he win without using sword skills?"

Kirito continued to attack Kayaba, but no matter what he did, Kayaba blocked every hit. His swords eventually lit up.

"No... it's over." I gasped.

Kirito used a sword skill and began furiously slashing at Kayaba. During one of his attacks however, Kirito's Dark Repulser blade shattered.

"Game over Kirito." Kayaba smirked. As he swung his sword down, a figure came between him and Kirito. The blade slashed across the figure's body.

It was Asuna!

Asuna fell back into Kirito's arms. That attack just now brought her hp down to zero.

_No way... Asuna... It can't be..._

Asuna said something to Kirito and shattered into fragments.

"Asuna!" I screamed. Kirito was speechless. He could barely move. He slowly got up, picked up Asuna's rapier, and continued to swing his swords at Kayaba. But now they were slow and had next to no power behind them. Kirito had lost the will to fight. Kayaba knocked his sword into the air and out of Kirito's hand. He then stabbed Kirito with his sword.

"No... Kirito... You can't give up now..." I sobbed. I knew it was futile. If I lost Alice like Kirito just lost Asuna, I'd probably be just like him.

_Damn it all! Just let me move you stupid body!_

Kirito's hp slowly decreased. It eventually hit zero. Kirito should have shattered into fragments, but he didn't. Instead, Kirito's body began to get all fuzzy.

"Not yet." Kirito said.

Kayaba took a step back in shock. Kirito yelled out and stabbed Kayaba with Asuna's rapier. Kayaba's hp hit zero as well. The two of them shattered together simultaneously.

I soon noticed my paralysis was gone. I got up and walked slowly over to where Kirito just was. An electronic female voice rang around us.

"As of 14:55 November 22, the game has been cleared. Repeat, the game has been cleared."

"Is... is it really over?" Alice wondered.

"Yeah. It is." I said. "Kayaba died. The final boss has been beaten."

I sounded calm, but tears covered my face. When Alice finally walked over and saw me, she gasped.

"Ren... Are you ok?"

"Damn you Kirito." I said softly.

"Ren?"

"DAMN YOU KIRITO! YOU GLORY HOGGING BASTARD! WHY'D YOU HAVE TO GO AND DIE LIKE THAT RIGHT WHEN WE GET TO LEAVE!" I cried.

Kirito was the first friend I made in SAO. He taught me how to play the game. He helped me god knows how many times. He was probably the best friend I ever had. And now he was gone.

Several others put their heads down and silently mourned Kirito and Asuna. After another minute though, our bodies began to glow.

"What's happening?" one player wondered.

"We must be logging out." I said.

"Finally... we can finally go home." Alice smiled. She turned her gaze towards me.

"Ren..."

"Don't worry." I said. "We'll find eachother when we get back."

Alice's face turned back to a smile.

"Yeah. No matter what, I'll find you again."

And with that our bodies became veiled in an incandescent glow and my vision went white.

**A/N: One more chapter left. Getting towards the end of arc one everybody. But guess what? This story is going into arc 2 as well! (cheering in the background). Gonna be introducing a couple new OCs with it as well. But first I will be putting out a new story full of Dagger's adventures (crowd going unbelievably wild with excitement). Stay tuned till next week to find out the title.**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Last chapter of SAO arc 1. Hope you all enjoy it. Arc 2 will be coming soon. I apologize for the delay. Been busy this week.**

My eyes slowly opened and I found myself in a white room on a bed. My body felt unbelievably weak.

_Where am I?_

I could hear some commotion out of the room. A nurse burst through the room and gasped when she saw me.

"Over here too! They're all awake!" she yelled out.

_I'm back... I'm really back in the real world._

After a few minutes some more nurses and doctors came into the room. They ran some tests and found that there was no neurological damage. I was obviously physically deteriorated though.

"Have all parents or guardians been contacted yet?" the doctor asked one of the nurses.

"Yes sir. All immediate relatives of each survivor have been informed."

I was ecstatic. We had finally been freed from SAO. My thoughts drifted to Kirito and my joy instantly vanished.

_Kirito... I wish you could have come back too._

After a couple hours, a nurse came in.

"Excuse me. Was your in-game name Ren?" she asked.

"Yes."

"I have a message from a friend of yours that was in the game."

"Who is it?"

"His name was Kirito."

Upon hearing the name my heart skipped a beat. My eyes were wide with shock.

"What... what did you say?"

"His name was Kirito." she repeated. "He wanted to tell you that he's ok."

_Kirito... Kirito is alive?!_

"By the way, do you happen to know his relation to another player by the name of Asuna?" she asked.

"Yeah. They were a couple. Why?"

The nurse's face became grim.

"Don't tell me she's..."

"Oh no. It's not that. She's alive. Don't worry." the nurse assured me. "The thing is, about 300 players are still trapped in their coma for some reason. Asuna is one of them."

The news shocked me. There were players that are still asleep?! And Asuna is one of them?!

"I don't know how to tell him." the nurse sighed.

"Don't tell him. Not yet at least." I asked. "Let me break the news. It'll sound better coming from a friend."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." I sighed.

The nurse got me a phone and got me in touch with Kirito. He didn't take the news well. I couldn't blame him.

A few hours passed. I wondered if I did the right thing by telling him right away. I was so concentrated in my own thought, I almost didn't hear the voice calling my name.

"Dan?"

I looked towards the door. In front of it stood a little girl of about 12 years of age. She had long brunette hair. She was wearing a blue jacket. I knew who she was right away. Her name was Clair. It would be hard not to recognize my own little sister.

"Dan... is it really you?" Clair asked with tears rolling down her face. In response I gave a smile.

"You got a little taller over the past two years." I said.

She ran right over to me and jumped into my bed, hugging me.

"Big brother! I missed you so much! I'm so happy you're back!" she cried.

I rubbed her back as she cried into my shirt.

"I missed you too sis. It's ok now. I'm here."

I felt bad for leaving Clair for these past two years. I had always been there to look out for her. The time while I was in SAO must have been tough on her.

After a few minutes, my parents came in as well. When they got to the hospital, Clair apparently ran ahead of them to see me. She always was impatient, like me.

_I'm back. We're all alive. Asuna may still be asleep, but she'll wake up soon. Everything can go back to normal._

Little did I know how wrong I was.

**A/N: Awwwwww. I just love close siblings. (sheds a tear). Don't judge me. Men cry too.**

**(Audience member): No they don't!**

**Me: Who said that! (silence). Yeah. I thought so.**

** Anyway, arc 2 will be here in a month or two Look forward to it. Also, a new story based on Dagger will be posted starting next week. **

**Here are the names of the new stories:**

**Arc2: Blazing Revolution**

**Dagger story: The Adventures of Dagger (I know, great name right?)**

**Look forward to the new stuff everybody.**


End file.
